■fcerocs of tbe IRations
^EDITED BY
36$el$n Bbbott, jfSJXB.
f.EU,dW;"OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD.
FACTA DUCI8 VIVENT, 0PER08AQUE
jLORIA RERUM.— OVID, (N LIVIAM 26S.
THE HERO’S DEEDS AND HARD-WON
FAME SHAM. LIVE.
SAINT LOUIS
SAINT LOUIS
(LOUIS IX. OF FRANCE)
THE MOST CHRISTIAN KING
FREDERICK PERRY, M.A
FELLOW OF ALL SOULS’ COLLEGE, OXFORD
library
G. P.-PUTNAM’S SONS
NEW YORCt
27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET
LONDON
24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND
%\z Ibmtetbflcher |Nss
1901
Copyright, 1.900
BY
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
0 «
ftnfcfterbocfter press, mew forU
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE KINGDOM OF FRANCE BEFORE THE ACCESSION
OF LOUIS IX. . * I
CHAPTER II
THE MINORITY ; AND THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE
MAGNATES, 1226-1231 21
*
CHAPTER III
THE PERIOD OF PEACE, I231-I2 36 . . . * 55
CHAPTER IV
THE PERIOD OF peace ( Continued ), 1236-1241 . 81
CHAPTER V
THE ^STGLISH WAR, I24I-I243 .... I05
CHAPTER VI
rJRSELIMIN ARIES OF THE CRUSADE, 1243-1248 . 1 27
CHAPTER VII
THE CRUSADE IN EG^PT, 1248-1250 . . * 159
CHAPTER VIII
THE SOJOURN IN PALESTINE, 1250-1254 , ,
Mil
iv Contents
CHAPTER IX
FOREIGN POLICY, I254-1270
CHAPTER X
INTERNAL AFFAIRS, 1254-1270 f .
CHAPTER XI
PERSONAL LIFE, 1254-12^0 . . .
CHAPTER XII
«r
SECOND CRUSADE AND DEATH OF LOUIS, 1270
PAGE
229
2 46
. 2 66
284
PAGE
1 saint louis .... Frontispiece n
[From a painting by Giotto at Florence.] *
* -j
MAP OF FRANCE \ I
[From Lonynon’s Atlas Historique de la France .]
1 SEAL OF ROBERT, COUNT OF DREUX ... 24
3 GREGORY IX 30
[From a painting in the Basilica of St. Paul’s,
Rome.]
1 CASTLE OF COUCY, I£T THE TIME OF SAINT LOUIS 44
[From a drawing by M. Viollet4e~Duc.]
« * *
3 FIGURE ON TOMB OF PETER MAUCLERC, COUNT
OF BRITTANY 50
4 SEAL OF THE MONASTERY OF SAINT LOUIS OF
^OISSY . . - * . . 56
6 SIGNET RING OF SAINT LOUIS .... 56
6 GOLD FLORIN OF SAINT LOUIS . .. .. . . 56
p"-
^From Wallon’s Saint Louis, Alfred Mame et Fils.
2 From La Croix’s Science and Literature of the Middle Ages,
Virtue & Co. «
3 From Le Moyne de la torderie’s Histoire de Bretagne .
4 From La Croix’s Mifttary arid Religious Life , Virtue & Co.
5 From De Wi tVSfSaint Louis eg les Croisade ^ Hachette & Co.
6 From La Croix’s Manners and Customs of the Middle Ages,
Virtue & Co,
»
Y
VI
Illustrations .
1 THE LAST JUDGMENT ...
[Miniature from the Psalter of Saint Louis.]
SEAL OF SAINT LOUIS
S 8
82
1 CHRIST THE JUDGE OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD 90
[Miniature from the Psalter of Saint Louis.] ^ # ^
t
1 RELIQUARY OF THE TRUE CROSS
[Known as the Reliquary of Baldwin.]
6 SEAL OF FERRAND, COUNT OF FLANDERS .
6 SEAL* OF SAINT LOUIS .....
3 INNOCENT IV. . . / .
[From a painting in the Basilica of St. Paul's?
Rome.]
1 SAINT LOUIS PRAYING BEFORE A SHRINK .
[From a bas-relief of the thirteenth century in the
cathedral $f Notre Dame.]
®THE PALACE AND THE SAINTE CHAPELLE IN
PARIS IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
w GOLD CLASP OF SAINT LOUJS ....
Departure of saint louis for the crusade.
6 CAPTURE OF damietta .....
PLAN OF MANSOURAH . . . p
^ENVOYS OF THE SULTAN DISCUSSING TERMS OF
RANSOM WITH CHRISTIAN CAPTIVES
[From the Credo of Joinville,]
, * 102
■ 124
; 124
ijoT
134
150
156
162
168
►178 ♦
1 88
1 From Wallon’s Saint Louis, Alfred Mame et Fils.
2 From La Croix’s Science antf. Literature of the Middle Ages »
Virtue & Co. # %SBffi ®
4 From La Croix’s Military and Religions Life > Virtue & Co.
5 From De Witt’s *Saint Louis e^les Crozsade^H&chette & Co.
6 From La Croix’s Manner/ and Customs of the Middle Ages,
Virtue & Co.
Illustrations .
vu
PAGE
5 COFFER OF SAINT LOUIS . . . 200
7 SARACEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN SAVED BY ORDER
OF SAINT LOUIS 210
[From a fourteenth- century manuscript.]
- THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN .... 226
[From a thirteenth-century manuscript.]
7 CHAMBER OF SAINT LOUIS . . . . 234
[From a fourteenth-century manuscript.]
7 SAINT LOUIS AND HIS CONFESSOR . . . Ofcp
[From a fourteenth-century manuscript.] *
\ >
7 SAINT LOUIS RECEIVING THE SACRAMENT . . 248
[From a fourteenth-century manuscript.]
7 RELATIVES OR THE MURDERED BOYS DEMANDING
JUSTICE FROM THE KING .... 254
[From a fourteenth-century manuscript.]
7 SAINT LOUIS MINISTERING TO THE POOR . * 268
> [From a fourteSnth-century manuscript.]
1 SAINT LOUIS FEEDING A LEPER V . . 272^
1 SAINT LOUIS SUBMITTING TO SCOURGING . . 272
7 SAINT LOUIS READING THE SCRIPTURES . . 280
[From a fourteenth-century manuscript.]
1 SAINT LOUIS AT PRAYER . . . . .286
[From a fourteenth-century manuscript.]
J DEATH OF SAINT LOUIS . . . .. . 292
[From a fourteenth-century manuscript.]
1 SICK AND INFIRM BEFORE AN IMAGE OF SAINT
_ %
LOUIS, BESEECHING HIS INTERCESSION . . 294
[From a fourteenth-century manuscript.]
*r-% • ^
1 From Wall on’s iZaint Louis , Alfred Mame €t Fils.
6 From De Witt’s Saint Louis et les Croisades, Hachette & Co.
T Frojn Joinville’s Histoire de Saint Louis , Firmin, Didot et Cie.
Illustrations.
viii
SHIELDS.
.
: PACE
THE KING OF FRANCE .
■ : *
*
I
THE KING OF CASTILE .
I
PETER, COUNT OF BRITTANY
r *
, 21 ..
THE COUNT OF TOULOUSE
21
THE COUNT OF CHAMPAGNE .
: : ...
"55
THE COUNT OF PROVENCE
55
HE^RY, COUNT OF BAR
8 1
AM A UR Y DE MONTFORT
8 1.
THE KING OF ENGLAND
zos
HUGH, COUNT OF LA MARCHE
105
THE EMPEROR
127
HENRY, LANDGRAVE OF THURINGIA
127
ROBERT, COUNT OF ARTOIS .
*
*59
WILLIAM LONGSWORD .
*59
-THE KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM
196
THE TEMPLE . : / .4 ■ \ '
196
MANFRED, KING OF SICILY .
229
HUGH, DUKE OF BURGUNDY .
229
THE COUNT OF FLANDERS
246
ENGUERRAND OF COUCY
246
THEOBALD, KING OF NAVARRE
266^
JOHN OF JOINVILLE
266
CHARLES, KING OF SICILY _ .
■ #
284
MATTHEW OF MONTMORENCY
•
284
ST. LOUIS
.-'HE KING OF FRANCE
THE KING OF CASTILE
SAINT LOUIS
CHAPTER I
THE KINGDOM OF FRANCE BEFORE THE ACCES-
SION OF LOUIS IX. .
A FTER the decay of the line sprung from
Charlemagne, the country of France was
divided into several states ruled by Dukes
or Counts. The House of Capet claimed the title
and prerogative of King; their ancestor Hugh hav-
ing been elected, by his peers and by the assembly
of the kingdom, to the throne vacant through the
death of Louis the Idler, in the year 987 after
Christ. But for about two hundred years the princes
descended from him had little power outside their
own patrimonial territories, which lay in the centre
of Northern France between the basins of the rivers
Seine and Loire, and were fertile and flourishing
though not large, Containing two populous towns,
Paris and Orleans,* They were bordered on all sides
by great principalities whose rulers professed to
recognise the suzerainty of the Capetians; paid
2
Saint Louts
them homage on accession, and sometimes sent con-
tingents to their armies; but, behaving in most
things as equal sovereigns, did not hesitate to levy
war against them, and never admitted royal inter-
ference or control within their own states.
Nevertheless, in spite of the weakness of thafmon-
archs, rthe kingly title and idea remained, as it did
in the neighbouring country of Germany. There,
during this period, tlje supreme authority was
strqpger; but the French Kings had two advantages
over the German rulers. First, they preserved the
succession of a single family . f Second, the latter
burdened themselves with the Imperial crown ; *and
instead of confirming and increasing their strength
at home, were diverted to Italian conquests, and to
disputing with the Popes the claim of supremacy in
Christendom. The fdrmer on the other hand, as
they did not waste their strength, or stir up enemies
J}y such an undertaking, were able to extend them-
selves by degrees, and to tak*e the opportunities that
offered of asserting their sovereignty. Moreover
in doing this they generally had the support instead
of the enmity of the Church, for the Popes were in-
clined to favour their growth, as a balance to the
Emperor; and the clergy of France, less powerful
than in Germany, regarded them as protectors
against the oppression of the lay feudatories, their
neighbours.
The first task of the French Kfngs was to establish
their power firmly in their patefnal domains; the
next, to weaken^subdue, and bring irlto control the
independent princes whom they called their vass^s.
The Kingdom of France
3
and so regain over France the sole monarchy of
Charlemagne. They were masters of their own im-
mediate subjects by the middle of the twelfth cent-
ury, chiefly owing to the vigorous and warlike rule
of Louis VI. In the course of the next hundred
and fiity years they ^vindicated their authority over
the whole kingdom. Part of the vassal territories
they took for their own, dispossessing the original
rulers. Part remained und^r their native princes,
who were no longer able, as formerly, to defy «the
King's pretensions and treat with him from aif equal
or better footing. He became their superior in
strength as well as in title; his royal prerogative,
which long had lain asleep and almost forgotten,
was revived and enforced ; and when they opposed
him it was rather in the character of overgrown sub-
jects than of independent sovereigns.
The period of expansion spreads through three
successive reigns; not that it absolutely began, as it^,
did not end with them. But the previous kings
were too feebly seated in the dominions they had,
to be very active in increasing them ; and those that
followed were already great and mighty monarchs,
and the acquisitions they made were easy compared
to the first; for they gathered up, by their own
weight and force, the scattered fragments that lay
round, as great bodies attract small. Earlier, how-
ever, the mass was still broken and dismembered,
with no portion muCh preponderant over the other;
and it was, as has been said, the policy and fortune
of three reigns which drew the parts into a whole,
and made France united and a nation.
4
Saint Louis
Before proceeding with this subject It will be con-
venient to mention the chief of the vassal provinces
which the realm contained. In the north was the
county of Flanders* where the towns were already
populous and rich with manufactures and commerce ;
and for that reason turbulent towards their rulers.
The old dynasty of Counts, which had been closely
allied with the French Kings, failed early in the
twelfth century ; and their successors Inclined to lean
upon the patronage and support of England. In
the west the duchy of Brittany, of which the in-
habitants, by the peculiar mariners and institutions
belonging to their Celtic race, and the savageriess
of their nature, which corresponded to. the region,
were, more than any other province, isolated and
alien from their neighbours. To the north-east of
Brittany lay the duchy of Normandy, occupied by
an industrious people and a fierce and intelligent
--mobility. Below it the Counts of Anjou, who were
constantly embroiled with the Norman princes, dis-
puting against them possession of the province of
Maine which separated their borders. South of the
Loire the Dukes of Aquitaine ruled as far as the
Pyrenees, and were raised to the station of great
sovereigns by the extent of their dominions, the
numbers and valour of their subjects, and the mari-
time commerce which flourished along their coasts.
But the free and martial spirit of their vassals, es-
pecially in Gascony, while it secured them against
subjugation from outside, was a frequent source of
domestic disturbance. *
South-east of Aquitaine was the rich country* of
^ The Kingdom of France 5
Languedoc, where the Counts of Toulouse were
supreme. In this province the Romans in their
conquest and occupation of Gaul had taken deeper
root. The traditions if not thejmstitutions of their
government had survived ; and, at the period spoken
of, the luxurious and comfortable life of the inhabit-
ants, their manners, more civilised than in the'horth,
and the greater freedom, activity, and self-esteem
of the trading and industrial class of people, might
recall the ages before the barbaric invasion, When
Western Europe stj.ll rested in the shadow of a
peaceful and well-ordered empire. On the farther
bank of the Rhone, the country of Provence, re-
sembling Languedoc in its conditions, customs,
and the character of its inhabitants, Dauphiny,
and the county of Burgundy,, which to-day are
an integral part of France, though occupied then
by men of kindred race and language, were still
in the thirteenth century dependencies of tlm—
Emperor.
The bounds of France, as it then was, included the
duchy of Burgundy. The rulers of this territory
were not formidable or important, being distracted
by quarrels with their own subjects, especially the
prelates, whose power and possessions were greater
there than in any other part of the realm. Next
came the domain of the family styling itself Counts
of Champagne. They h|d inherited or acquired the
five counties of Chartres, Blois, Sancerre, Cham-
pagne, and Brie, which lay like a chain, round the
east, south, and west of the royal patrimony.
Touching Burgundy on the south and Vermandpis
6
Saint Louis
on the north, they completed the circle of principal-
ities by which the King was surrounded.
In the latter half of the eleventh century the Duke
■of Normandy, whose ancestors had been since their
settlement the strongest princes of the north, and
had least regarded the authority of the Capetians,
invaddd and conquered England, This event
changed the balance of power in France. The
acquisition" of a kingdom separated by the sea raised
the^Norman Dukes to a titular level with their suze-
rain, of whom they became wholly independent in
respect of their new possessions. From this f time
their dealings began to be on a fresh footing, and
the French Kings profited by the change. For
although their adversary vastly increased his ter-
ritories and military r resources, the centre of his
Interests was removed from France, his aims and
position were dissevered from those of the other
reat vassals; and Normally, having become an
outlying and in some sort dependent province of
England, was by degrees less able or anxious to
resist absorption than when it stood alone and main-
tained Itself a separate and almost sovereign state.
Ninety years after the conquest of England the
Norman House was merged by marriage in that of
Anjou ; and acquired by a further marriage the in-
heritance of Aquitaine. The English King was
then the greatest potentate in France both north
and south of the Loire. But the very extent and
diversity ot his dominions made r him too weak to
overwhelm and c swallow up his brother at Paris.
The difference of customs and manners, language
7
The Kingdom of France
and interests which prevailed between England and
Normandy and Anjou and Aquitaine; the distance
which divided them; and their mutual jealousy,
inflamed ‘by desire of independence, fed a constant
stream of troubles for their common master, who
held them as several realms, not as one, on different
conditions and by various titles.
Henry II. of England, who first united these
territories, was a man of ^conspicuous energy and
prudence both in peace and war. He was aWe to
keep together the provinces of his Crown ; ahd even
to add the county of Berry and the district of Vexin,
and to establish his suzerainty over Brittany. But
he never gqt the upper hand, decisively or for long,
over the French King, who watched him like a
jealous enemy, and did not fail to use the many
opportunities of annoyance r and attack which were
opened by Henry's dissensions with the Church,
with his subjects, and with- his own family. He
was generally leagued with one or other of the Eng-
lish princes, who led the continental provinces in
rebellion against their father, and accustomed them
thus to look to France, not England, as their natural
suzerain and ally. In this way Louis VII. harassed
and kept at bay, though he could not seriously
cripple, the power of the House of Plantagenet.
His successor, Philip Augustus, achieved more.
With his reign the tide of fortune turned to the
flow, carrying the Capetian monarchy, which hitherto
had only maintained itself in its original bounds,
towards the destined limits of aggrandisement.
By marriage with the niece of the childless Count
Saint Louis
of Flanders, and by a successful war against her
uncle, Philip obtained the possession or reversion of
Artois and Vermandois. The English King, at
peace with France for the moment, kept himself
benevolently neutral in this dispute, and helped to
arrange the terms of settlement.. But the quarrel of
the two Houses was kept alive by conflicting inter-
ests and soon broke out again openly. It was sus-
pended however for a time by the death of Henry
and. by the third crusade.
Philip entered upon that undertaking less from
inclination than in obedience to the common
sentiment of Christendom, which demanded im-
periously that an effort should be made to stem the
sudden flood of Infidel victory, and to restore the
kingdom of Jerusalem from its recent ruin. Nor
did he wait for its conclusion to resume his attacks
upon the great enemy of the French Crown, in
which he was assisted, by the dissensions which con-
tinued to prevail in the family of his rivals. He
opposed John Plantagenet to Richard; and after
Richard’s death, upheld against John the legitimate
claim of his nephew Arthur ; but finding no prospect
of immediate success, and exhausted by the war, he
made peace in the year 1200, and cemented it by
marrying his eldest son Louis with Blanche, John’s
niece, daughter of the King of Castile.
His opportunity came two years later, when
John, who perhaps more than ally other prince in-
dulged his private passions to thO detriment of his
Crown, enraged the Count of La Marche, his great-
est vassal in Poitou, whose betrothed wife he took
9
The Kingdom of France
for himself; and earned the hatred of the Bretons
and the reprobation of all men by the murder of
Arthur. This tinge the fortune of arms was not
doubtful. Normandy was overrun and submitted
almost willingly; for the attachment of both people
and barons to their ancient dynasty was much
diminished by long absence of the sovereigh in a
foreign kingdom, and by the stricter rule and heavy
exactions which lately had «begun to be introduced.
Philip confirmed his conquest by leniency of treat-
ment and by preserving the privileges of the van-
quished. The English King, detested by many of
his subjects and sunk in long torpors of sloth and
sensuality, qpt only failed to recover his losses, but
endured in the following years the defection of other
provinces, Maine and Anjou gnd Touraine and
Poitou, which passed into the power of his enemy.
He was deprived erf his fiefs by a solemn judgment
of the peers of France, and reduced to make a truce,—
under which he abandoned everything north of the
Loire, and a great part of Poitou besides.
Philip was left with his dominions doubled in
extent and seven years of peace in which to establish
and strengthen his authority. By that time he was
ready to take the offensive again. The occasion was
offered by the policy of the Apostolic See, which
divided Western Christendom into two factions.
On the one side Pope Innocent III., pursuing his
inevitable feud against the Emperor, set up as a
rival to Otho of Brunswick the young Frederick of
Sicily, heir of the Imperial House of Hohenstaufen.
The French King supported this party. On the
to
Saint Louis
other side the Emperor Otho was backed by John
of England, who was his uncle. The Pope had his
own quarrel with John, springing from ecclesiastical
affairs in England; and, affecting to depose him
from his kingdom, offered it to Philip, who welcomed
the enterprise. It was not undertaken, for the Pope
withdrew his sanction when John submitted at the
threat ; but Philip turned his arms against the Counts
of Flanders and Boulogne, who having reason before
to Complain of his encroachment had revealed them-
selvesjm this juncture the allies^pf his enemies. Their
friends did not desert them; a coalition was formed
which hoped to destroy the French King and to
split his swollen monarchy into fragmepts. But the
fortune of battle was otherwise. The confederated
army was* beaten at Bouvines. Otho fled
wounded and broken from the field; Fer-
1 rand of Flanders and Reginald of Boulogne
-*were taken prisoners. Meanwhile Prince Louis
drove the King of England shamefully from Poitou ;
Flanders became submissive: and the growing king-
dom was strengthened and consolidated by the vic-
torious war.
A year later the intolerable disorders of ^England
and the failure of their rebellion led the barons of
that country to offer its crown to Louis in right of
his wife. His expedition, at first successful, was
afterwards defeated and^orced to return, as John's
^ ^ death removed the cause of English discord,
* 0 ai»d the temper of the ^nation re\olfced
against invasion and conquest by a foreign
prince. Philip had not assisted and barely refrained
i I
The Kingdom of France
ii
from forbidding his son's attempt; whether that
from policy he was unwilling to be entangled in an
undertaking beyond his strength, and dangerous,
perhaps, if it failed, to the security of acquisitions
already won, or that he feared the enmity of the
Pope, who took John under his protection, forbade
him to be attacked, and excommunicated Louis for
persisting. But the Princess Blanche, who is said to
have urged her husband to accept the offer, was
allowed to raise men and money for his succour® in
this w T ork she showed herself active and able, and
equipped a considerable convoy, which, however,
was met and destroyed at sea by an English fleet.
While thp King was extending his power in
Northern France, Languedoc was afflicted with the
most terrible disorder and calamity, which turned,
not by design, but by the course of events, to the
profit of the monarchy. The evil began by the
growth in those parts of the Albigensian heresy*—
It is difficult and perhaps not necessary to define
the exact tenets of the superstition, which indeed
took various forms. It appears to have been, in the
main, a revival of the Manichean belief which held
that the universe was governed by two Powers —
one good, one evil. The principles and dogmas of
this creed, mixed with heathen philosophy and
Eastern mysticism, were repugnant to the settled
faith of the Christian world ; and its practical results
emphasised the difference and increased the hostility
of the orthodox. r Such error could have taken no
root in other parts of Western Europe, where life
was rude and simple, speculation confined, and
12
Saint Louis
religion led men to observance of worship, pious
works, and absolute faith in the doctrines of the
Church, rather than to subtle questioning and ex-
travagant ideas. But the people of South-eastern
France, as has been remarked, were on a different
level of civilisation : more rich, luxurious, and lei-
sured' and they ran mad after a teaching which rwas
not only odious but incomprehensible to their
northern neighbours. -Their intelligence was cap-
tivated by its ingenuity ; their feeling touched by its
mysticism ; and the asceticism^and purity enjoined
on its votaries, though practised by few, attracted
the more serious spirits among a population of easy
and licentious livers, who had falletv away from
primitive belief.
The spread of heresy soon roused notice and
alarm in other countries, and especially at Rome;
for the Church was both shocked in its convictions
—and attacked in its interests. The new sect was
said to proclaim that Jehovah was Satan, and most
of the Old Testament his work; that Moses and
John the Baptist were devils. At the same time
they pronounced the existing Church to be a creation
of the Evil Power; and pointed at the vices of the
clergy, who in Languedoc shared the prevailing
looseness of manners. Bishops and abbots were
driven from their sees and possessions, and the
whole order fell into contempt and disrepute. The
schism was strongest in the towns; but a great part
of the nobility of the province became perverts, and
took the occasion to seize ecclesiastical landsw The
high magnates, the Count of Toulouse, the Viscount
i3
The Kingdom of France
of Beziers, and the Count of Foix, adhered openly
to the heretics, or favoured them secretly.
The Pope thundered against the error, and sent
missionaries to reclaim the strayed. They corrected
in some degree the disorders of the clergy of the
region; but preached for ten years without effect,
though reinforced by the burning zeal of* Saint
Dominic. Their hearers were averse and scornful;
while the enthusiasm which always lies hid in the
heart of any people, however incredulous, was already
possessed by the heretics. The only result jof the
mission was to embitter and enrage both sides, as
the monks upbraided and threatened the sectaries,
and were in^urn scoffed at and ill-treated. At last
Peter of Castelnau, one of the legates, who had de-
nounced Count Raymond of Toulouse by name,
was murdered at Saint Gilles by a knight of the
Count's. The others fled; and Innocent, angry be-
yond measure, ordered a crusade to extirpate heresy-
and to dispossess Raymond. The summons carried
with it indulgences and all the benefits which the
Church could offer to the servants of the Faith;
and was well answered by the barons of France.
The King refused to take part, alleging that two
great enemies — the Emperor and the King of Eng-
land — lay in wait against him and required his
whole strength. A vast army following the cross
invaded Languedoc. The Count of Toulouse was
terrified, submitted, and joined in destroying the
Viscount of Beziers, his own nephew and ally. The
papal i Legate offered the territories of Beziers to
the Duke of Burgundy, and then to other magnates
14
Saint Louis
who were in the crusade; and when they declined,
to Simon of Montfort the elder, who accepted the
gift and the task of suppressing schism : the others
returned home* r
Raymond of Toulouse found himself subjected to
conditions of peace too hard to bear; and became
in his' turn the mark of the crusade, which Simon
of Montfort carried on, aided by the levies of the
Church and by privater adventurers. The war was
blcfody and devastating and pursued to extirpation
with a cruelty beyond the custom of the age. The
invaders fought as against infidels instead of fellow-
Christians, and showed no mercy in battle or after
it. Montfort’s military skill and fierce enthusiasm
sustained him against the greater numbers of the
enemy; who, besides the multitude of his subjects,
obtained the help of Gascony and Aragon. For the
struggle had changed from a religious to a political
«jone with Montfort’s endeavour to establish himself
in Languedoc; and neither the King of Aragon nor
the King of England wished the Count of Toulouse
to be crushed to the profit of France and the Pope.
But the combined forces were defeated at
* Muret ; and the Councils of Montpellier*
and of the Lateran f declared Raymond de-
prived of Toulouse and all his possessions West of
the Rhone, which were assigned to Montfort and
his heirs.
r
The crusaders had conquered' but could not hold
Languedoc* After a short time r the whole country
— ► r r
* January, a.d. 1215.
f The fourth of the Lateran, November, a.d. 1215.
The Kingdom of France
15
rose against them. Montfort was hard pressed in
the field, but nevertheless maintained a siege of the
city of Toulouse for nine months, when his head
was split by a stone from a catapult. His eldest
son, Amaury, inherited his claims but not his war-
like genius. He was beaten and repulsed every-
where, his garrisons driven out, and the Couftts of
Toulouse regained their own. Amaury solicited
help from the King, and his prayers were supported
by the pressing mandate of Pope Honorius.* 1
Philip had hitherto declined to meddle in the
affairs of Languedoc or actively to assist the crusad-
ers. He had complied, however, with the papal
injunction agd his own interests so far as to be
benevolent to their enterprise. After Muret he
had sent his son to the south with an army, which
finding no present need of its services returned
quickly; and he had* accepted the homage of Simon
of Montfort for the conquered territories. Now he -
was less occupied with other dangers, and not un-
willing to sustain his vassal and prove his obedience
and devotion to the Church. Louis was despatched
again and had some successes; but, failing to take
Toulouse in face of the obstinate defence of the
citizens, he retired, having accomplished the forty
days of service which earned the indulgences pro-
mised to the crusade. Amaury got no more aid, and
lost the whole province with the exception of a few
strong places. It seems that the King, advanced
in age and failing in health, shrank from a new and
arduous task; or perhaps he considered the fruit not
* Honorius III., who succeeded Innocent III. in A.D. 1216.
1 6 Saint Louis
yet ripe. At any rate he refused the cession, which
Amaury offered in his straits, of all the territories
which the two Councils had bestowed on the House
of Montfort.
Philip Augustus died in 1223, leaving an immense
treasure and a Crown marvellously increased in
t " strength and reputation over that which he
J ^ had received. His son Louis, eighth ad the
** name, succeeded him without trouble or
opposition, being the first prince of the Capetian
House who had not been solemnly crowned and
associated in the kingdom during his father’s life-
time. He was already in the prime of his years,
an approved soldier and zealous churchman, of a
bold and upright character, ambitious, of power, but
inferior to Philip, in^ prudence and politic genius.
He was willing to suppress the southern heresy which
had sprung into new vigour with the expulsion of
the invaders; and accepted Amaury’s cession, sub-
ject to the Pope’s confirmation. But Plonorius at
this moment had changed his views, and was
more anxious to promote the crusade of Palestine
which the Emperor Frederick was undertaking.
He discouraged therefore any renewal of the at-
tack on Toulouse; and the King, though reluctant,
obeyed.
The Pope’s exhortations to peace with England
were less favourably heard. Louis not only rejected
the demand for the restoration of Normandy which
Henry IH. put forward, alleging a stipulation of
the treaty which closed the late unfortunate in-
vasion ; but, the existing truce having expired, he
4
i7
The Kingdom of France
prepared to complete the conquest of Poitou. With*
a great army, which was joined by many magnates
of France, he entered that province, captured the
strong town of Rochelle, and continued as ^
far as the river Garonne a march which re- * *
I22A
sembled a triumphal progress rather than a
campaign. The Count of La Marche came oyer to
his side, and the whole country yielded almost
without resistance, having small affection for the
English suzerain, who, distracted by quarrels w|th
his baronage, seemed to have abandoned Aqui-
taine to its fate. An expedition which crossed in
the following year recovered little of what had
been lost.
Meanwhile*the Emperor had deferred his crusade;
and the Pope reverted to the affairs of Languedoc.
He sent a Legate into France to ‘procure a suspen-
sion of hostilities against the English, and to arrange
for the destruction of the heretics. A council of
French prelates convoked at Bourges refused to be
satisfied with the assurances of Raymond of Tou-
louse, son of the Count whom Montfort had dis-
possessed. The final decision was referred to the
Pope; who through the mouth of the Legate, in an
assembly of barons and bishops at Paris, excom-
municated Raymond and his adherents, and called
on the King to take possession of the fiefs renounced
by Amaury of Montfort. The papal mandate, the
urgent entreaties of the prelates, who declared that
he alone could accomplish the business, and his own
inclination, led Louis to consent. Xhe crusade was
preached zealously throughout France, and was
1 8 Saint Louis
undertaken by a vast multitude of all ranks. The
clergy contributed a tenth of its revenues to the war.
The King of England was threatened with excom-
munication if he troubled France; the King of
Aragon forbidden* under the same penalty, to assist
the Count of Toulouse.
The rendezvous of the crusaders was fixed at
Bourges, a month after Easter, 1226, I’hey
amounted, it is said, to fifty thousand horse. The
King, leaving Queen Blanche at Paris to govern in
his absence, led them to Lyons and down the valley
of thD Rhone, finding no opposition till he came to
Avignon, The heretics were strong in that rich
and fortified city; and either through hostility or
fear passage was denied to the royal army. Louis
laid siege with all his forces. The defence was
vigorous and prolonged, for the town was well fur-
nished with men and machine^ of war. The be-
siegers lost great numbers in assaults and through
sorties, and were distressed by the summer heats and
the plague which followed, and by failure of food
and forage, as the Count of Toulouse had wasted
the surrounding country. At the end of forty days
Count Theobald of Champagne, declaring that he
had fulfilled the period of service to which he was
bound by feudal law, withdrew from the camp. His
defection was suspected to be arranged with other
of the magnates, who saw their forces being ex-
hausted for the aggrandisement of royal power.
Nevertheless the King persisted in the siege; and
after three months the town was bfought to capit-
ulate. It received easy terms : a fine, the delivery
J 9
i
The Kingdom of France
of hostages, the breach of its walls, and filling up of
the moat.
The army, much diminished by its losses and by
the return of many of the crusaders, proceeded
through Languedoc to within a few miles of Tou-
louse. There was no resistance anywhere, Count
Raymond having gathered his forces within the
walls of his capital and left the country unoccupied
except by a peaceful population or those who
favoured the invader. Louis did not attempt tfee
siege of Toulouse, which he purposed to undertake
the next spring, but, leaving his lieutenants behind
and garrisons in the strong places, turned to march
homewards. At Montpensier in Auvergne he fell
sick of dysentery and fever brought on by the un-
healthy climate and the hardships of campaigning,*
after a few days' Illness he died on the 8th of
November, 1226. •
Before his death he called the bishops and barons
who were in the army, and requested them to take
an oath to be faithful and obedient to his heir, which
they did with tears, afterwards confirming their pro-
mise by a written deed. He also named the Queen
as guardian and regent during the minority.
His body was carried back home and buried in
the Church of Saint Denis where the Kings of
France have their sepulchre. Contemporary writers
praise him as a brave and pious prince, generous of
disposition and affable in his manners. He left an
infant daughter Isabel, and six sons ; of whom Louis,
the eldest, the subject of this work, was in his thir-
teenth year, having been born on Saint Mark's day.
20
Saint Louis
the 25th of April, 1214. The second was Robert,
the third John, the fourth Alphonso, the fifth
Philip, the sixth Charles. John and Philip died
young; the others will be mentioned frequently in
the following pages.
PETER, COUNT OF BRITANNY THE COUNT OF TOULOUSE
*
CHAPTER II
THE MINORITY; AND THE *STRU GGLE AGAINST!
THE MAGNATES *
♦ •
• 1226-1231
Q UEEN .BLANCHE, coming from Paris with
her children to join her husband, was met
by Bishop Guerin of Senlis with the news of
his death. It is said that she displayed the utmost
violence of grief, and would have taken her own life
had not the frenzy been restrained by her attend-
ants. The tale is not incredible, for it is agreed that
the King and Queen, since their marriage in child-
hood, had cherished a passionate affection for one
another. But there was little time to indulge sor-
row if the duties of a mother and a guardian were
not to be forgotten. It appeared at once that the
crown and fortunes of her son were in danger, from
which only promptness and vigour and sagacity in
counsel and action could save them.
The magnates of^ France had found their power
depressed, as thp royal power was exalted, by the
policy of Philip Augustus. They nourished their
discontent, and were anxious to take the first
22 ' Saint Louis [ 1226 -
occasion for recovering the ground they had lost and
for vindicating their old independence. Signs of
imminent trouble had appeared in the late reign:
the desertion of the Count of Champagne from the
army before Avignon, and the secret league which
was said to exist between him, the Count of Brit-
tany* and the townspeople. The storm which Louis
VIII. did not live to meet gathered quickly round
the throne of his successor, as the magnates saw
their c opportunity in the prospect of a long minority,
a w$ak and troubled government, and a Regent
whom they hated as a foreigner and despisejl as a
woman.
Blanche, however, was a woman of masculine and
kingly genius, as her enemies recognised afterwards
when they called rher the new Semiramis. She had
the fierce and haughty temper of the blood of Plan-
tagenet which she shared; the intolerance of oppos-
ition, the ruthless energy, the caution, prudence,
and skill in affairs which marked so many princes of
that famous race. She had also the support of a
considerable party. The prelates, as a rule, were
on her side. The Cardinal-Legate Romano was her
firm friend ; scandal, in which there appears to have
been no truth, asserted that he was her lover. He
was of the Frangipani, a noble Roman House, and
claimed kinship with the royal family of France.
He had been sent into, the kingdom, as has been
related, to contrive peace with the English and war
against the heretics; and had show^ii himself deserv-
ing the reputation which he bore of wisdom, dis-
cretion, and ability. Another priest whose counsels
#
1231 ] Struggle against the Magnates 23
were valuable to the Queen was Guerin, Bishop of
Senlis, Chancellor in the late reign and an old
adviser of Philip Augustus, who had done good
service at the battle of Bouvines. But the mis-
fortune of his death, which happened in the spring
of 1227, soon deprived her of his friendship and
assistance.
The magnates expected to find a leader in Philip,
Count of Boulogne, son of* Philip Augustus by a
morganatic marriage. He had been married to fhe
daughter of that Co^nt of Boulogne who was baleen
prisoner at Bouvines and was still in captivity, and
had received the possessions of his father-in-law and
other lordships in Normandy. This young prince
was of a proud and brutal temper which got him the
nickname of Hurepel, that is, Roughskin : he was
not, however, without generous emotions or loyalty;
and though resenting the regency of another, re-
mained at this juncture faithful to the oath which
he had sworn at his brother’s death-bed. The Queen
encouraged his good disposition by a gift of castles
and a pension.
But the chief spirit of the discontented party was
Peter, commonly styled the Count of Brittany. He
was a cadet of the family of Dreux, a younger
branch of Capet; and acquired Brittany, which he
now governed as Regent for his son, by a marriage
with Alix, half-sister of the unfortunate Arthur.
While he fought against the extension of royal
authority he encroached unscrupulously upon the
rights of his own vassals, and wa^ called Mauclerc
because he plagued the clergy. The writers of the
24
Saint Louis
0226 -
age, who were mostly monks, have given him the
worst of characters. They describe him as a hatchet
of sedition, full of treasons and stratagems, cruel,
faithless, and a pirate. At the same time he was
admitted to have an intelligence above the level of
his time and to be a brave soldier and skilful com-
mander both on land and sea. His principal -ally
was Hugh of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, once
the lover and now the husband of Isabel, widow of
Kifcg John of England, He had submitted to Louis
VIII* when he overran Poito$, and had made an
agreement with him against the English, but was
not inclined to become an obedient vassal to France :
his wife's ambition rather than his own incited him
to take advantage of the disturbances about to arise.
The last injunctions of Louis VIII. had bound his
adherents to see that his son was crowned as soon
as possible, that he might receive the homage of his
great subjects and be fortified by their oaths of
allegiance. No time was lost in carrying out his
wishes. The Queen wrote letters to the arch-
bishops, bishops, and magnates of the realm,
summoning them to assemble at Rheims for the
coronation on the first Sunday in Advent. The
communes also of the neighbouring region were
summoned to attend ; and letters to the same effect
were sent out by the prelates and barons who had
given their promise to the late King. The replies
received were not encouraging. Many of the barons
declined t<^ come. Some veilecf their disaffection
under pretext of the grief they professed to feel at
the King's death ; aiming no doubt at the Queen,
1231 ] Struggle against the Magnates 25
whom her enemies already accused of having con-
spired with the Count of Champagne to poison him :
that prince was well known to entertain a romantic
attachment to her person, which gave a handle to
the He. A greater number demanded openly that
the prisoners whom the King held should be re-
leased, especially Ferrand of Flanders and Reginald
of Boulogne; that the lands which the last two
Kings had taken unjustly, <as they said, should ^be
restored; and that the feudal privileges of *che
barons, which had & been impaired, should be re-
affirmed to the full.
These refusals did not make the Queen and her
counsellors less anxious to hasten the coronation.
She carried the King to Rheims, whither repaired a
number of prelates and a few jm agnates ; among
them the Counts of Boulogne and of Dreux, the
Duke of Burgundy the Count of Bar, and Enguer-
rand of Coucy ; also the Countess of Flanders, who
was in treaty for the release of her husband, and
the Countess dowager of Champagne. The Legate
was present; and John, King of Jerusalem, with
his Patriarch. Theobald of Champagne was pre-
pared to attend and approached within a few miles
with his retinue, a part of which entered the town.
But he was in much odium from his desertion at
Avignon and the slander of poisoning which had
been spread against him, and was moreover disliked
by the barons, particularly by the Count of Bou-
logne, on account of the favour which hershowed to
the commons in his domain, and the liberal and
learned studies which he pursued, preferring them
26
Saint Louis
[ 1225 -
to the usual occupations of feudal nobility. The
Queen, therefore, to avoid offence, sent and forbade
him to enter Rheims, and ordered the provost to
expel those of his following who were already in the
place; and the barons added a message that he
should not fortify his towns, or a general attack
would be made on him. Receiving this discourage-
ment he retired in great anger.
The young King was crowned on the day fixed,
thi first Sunday in Advent, by the Bishop of Sois-
sons, the See of Rheims being # at the time vacant.
In his right hand was placed a royal sceptre, the
emblem of protection and government; in his left
a wand, signifying mercy, with a hand at the top to
typify justice. His head was anointed with sacred
oil from the vial kept in the abbey of Saint Remy.
It was remarked that he had the blue eyes, the fair
complexion, and yellow hair which belonged to the
House of Charlemagne, from which he descended
through his grandmother, Isabel of Hainault. When
the coronation was over the prelates and barons
swore fealty and did homage both to the King and
to the Regent. The Countesses of Flanders and
Champagne each claimed the right of bearing the
sword of state in the ceremony ; the one in right
of her husband, the other of her son. To avoid a
decision the office was deputed to the Count of
Boulogne.
The next day Blanche returned to Paris with the
King. In* a few weeks she released Ferrand of
Flanders from She prison in which he had lain for
twelve years, on terms which, though favourable to
2 ?
12311 Struggle against the Magnates
the kingdom, were lenient enough to bind the Count
to a loyalty which he faithfully preserved. At the
same time she set up a further claim on the gratitude
of Philip of Boulogne by detaining his father-in-law
in captivity, in which he died shortly afterwards.
Meanwhile the enemies of the Crown were laying
their plans. Even in the last reign Peter of Brit-
tany had been negotiating with the English on his
own behalf and that of the Count of La Marche,
with the result that Henry III. had agreed to marry
his daughter Yolanrfe; to assist his pretensions; to
send his brother Richard, who governed Gascony,
to help him ; and to cross the sea in person when a
suitable opportunity occurred. Hugh of La Marche
came into the alliance though Blanche made liberal
offers ; and the Count of Champagne, fresh from
the repulse of Rheims, put himself into the hands
of the confederates. Their treaties were made be-
fore the end of the year; they avowed openly their
intention of refusing obedience to the King and
began to fortify and provision their castles.
Blanche, acting promptly, gathered at once a con-
siderable army which the Legate joined and the
Counts of Boulogne and Dreux, and threatened to
fall upon Champagne. Theobald, who had engaged
himself in the rebellion from pique, had no stomach
for the war and hastened to make overtures of peace
which were accepted gladly, and to return to the
Queen's presence. Strengthened by his accession,
the royal army advanced towards Chinan, ready to
turn against Brittany or La MarcHe or Richard of
Cornwall, who having received from England a
28
Saint Louis
[ 1226 -
reinforcement of Welshmen and a large sum of
money had invaded Poitou. A summons was sent to
the two Counts to appear before the King in his court
of Parliament, or to be declared open traitors and
attacked in force. Being thus brought to a point
sooner than they expected, they found themselves
unprepared to fight, and promised to meet the King
A q at Chinon. That place was reached on the
* * 2 1 st of February*, but the rebels neither ap-
1 peared themselves on the day fixed nor sent
their excuses. They received ra second summons
and again promised to come, and failed again. c To
preserve the strictest requirement of custom Blanche
summoned them a third and last time in the King’s
name, and at the same time advanced to Loudon.
Then, seeing that no further delay could be hoped
for, they sent envoys to arrange terms.
The Queen having made a truOs with the English
returned to Vend6me, whither the Counts repaired
on the 1 6 th of March. Policy and necessity alike
forbade harsh treatment ; they were welcomed back
to their allegiance, did homage to the King in the
presence of the Legate, and received considerable
advantages under a treaty which was cemented by
three contracts of marriage: between John, the
King’s second brother, and Yolande of Brittany;
between the Prince Alphonso and the daughter of
the Count of La Marche; and between Hugh, the
Count’s eldest son, and Isabel, the King’s sister.
All the parties were children at the.. time, and not
one of the marriages was consummated in the event.
Meanwhile Peter obtained the enjoyment of Angers
1231] Struggle against the Magnates 29
and other towns of Anjou, which province was
already marked out as the appanage of Prince John;
and promised for his part to make no alliance with
England and to give up his daughter to the Count
of Boulogne and to his own brothers, Robert of
Dreux and Henry, Archbishop of Rheims, to keep
her in ward till the Prince should be of marriageable
age. Hugh of La Marche got a pension of ten
thousand pounds for ten ye#rs in satisfaction of his
own and his wife’s claims; while the King under-
took to make no peace with England without his
consent.
Tfie English King, hoping to recover a part at
least of his former dominions, sent over the Arch-
bishop of York and others early in the year, to aid
the counsels of the rebels and^to treat with the
barons of Normandy, Anjou, and Poitou. But the
envoys found the rebellion already composed, and
that the Regent, as the English chronicler com-
plains, “ had made herself friends of the mammon
of unrighteousness.” When they applied to Peter
of Brittany to proceed with the business of his
daughter’s marriage to their master, he informed
them of the agreement just concluded with ^ ^
the King of France, which he refused to ‘ *
break. They then returned, having accom- 7
plished nothing; and in July a truce of a year was
made between France and England.
The malcontents had been checked by the Queen’s
vigour but not reconciled. Indignant at; the neces-
sity of submission to a woman they*fomented their
own anger by spreading abroad calumnies against
30
Saint Louis
[ 1226 -
her, of which hatred made them credulous. The
design of open rebellion had scarcely failed and the
treaties of Venddme been concluded, when a plan
was concocted of seizing the King’s person as he
travelled with his mother from Orleans to Paris.
The Count of Champagne sent warning, and the
Queen hurried her journey ; but reaching MontPh£ry,
learned that the road was already beset. In these
straits she sent messages to the chief citizens of
Pa A is and to all the surrounding country. The
neighbouring knights gathered,, to the city to assist
the rescue of the young King; the levy of the Par-
isians was armed ; and they marched together, with
banners flying, straight towards MontPh&y. The
force of the barons, posted in ambush, was afraid to
attack so great a multitude; and Louis passed to his
capital along a road lined the whole way with
shouting crowds, armed and. manned, crying on
God to give the King long life and save him from
his enemies. The sight and sound of a devoted
people made so deep an impression on his youthful
mind, that to the end of his life he was fond of re-
calling this scene to memory and of relating it to
others.
The confederates, baffled in one plot, concerted
another before they dispersed. It was agreed that
the Count of Brittany should prepare revolt; and
that the rest, being called to attend the royal army
against him, should furnish so slender a force that
the King would certainly be defeated or captured.
They began to~ doubt, as it seemed, of succeeding
except by the help of surprise or treachery. The
1231 ]
Struggle against the Magnates 31
execution of their design, however, was deferred to
a more convenient season ; and for a while the peace
was not openly disturbed, except for the war in
Languedoc, where, wijdi varying success, the crusade
was still carried on against the Count of Toulouse
and his heretic subjects by the neighbouring bar-
ons and clergy, without much assistance from ether
parts of France. But the path of government re-
mained difficult and full of obstacles.
A new Pope, Gregory IX., had succeeded Hont>-
rius III. in Peter’s seat; and, though friendly to
France, he was inclined to listen to a flood of com-
plaints which poured in from the clergy of the king-
dom, on the subject of the tithe on their revenues
which Honorius had given to Louis VIII. for five
years to support his southern crusade. The crusade
had dwindled into the little irregular operations of
a local war; but thejtithe continued to be exacted;
nor could the Regent spare so rich a source of sup-
ply. The Legate stood by her firmly in compelling
the reluctant clerics to pay; “ You shall have the
money,” he said, “ even if you have to take the
capes of the canons.” The Chapters of the dioceses
wrote to the Pope; and the Pope, taking their side,
wrote to the Legate blaming his conduct and com-
manding him to revoke the ordinance he had issued
for the levy of the tax. But he anticipated the
arrival of the papal letters by going to Rome him-
self, where he justified his action, and obtained a
decree that the tithd should be paid in fujl; which
the deputies of the Chapters, who pteaded against
him, could only get modified to the extent that the
32 Saint Louis [ 1226 -
arrears still due should be estimated at no more
than a hundred thousand pounds.
Another difficulty arose with the Church in the
case of the Archbishop of Rouen, who claimed the
right of cutting wood in, the royal forest of Louviers.
The extent of the right was disputed ; and the
King's bailiff seized some of the wood which was
being taken to Rouen. The Archbishop, an ob-
stinate man, quickly had the bailiff excommunicated.
The Queen, whose spirit was not less inflexible than
hisf cited the prelate before the royal court on this
and" other counts. He appeared but refused to
plead, alleging that he held none of his domains
under the King, who therefore had no jurisdiction
over him. As he persisted in this contention his
lands were seized ; he then laid an interdict on all
that the King possessed within the archbishopric
and started to go to Rome, but fell ill on the way.
The Pope, learning of the matter from his letters,
deputed it to the Legate, who on his return in the
following year settled the quarrel and got the Arch-
bishop replaced in possession of his lands.
Though much occupied in public business Blanche
did not neglect to provide carefully for the educa-
tion and training of the young King. She had a
more than common affection towards him from
his infancy; had nourished him at her own breast;
and made him the favourite among her children.
Being herself extremely devout, according to the
Spanish _ character, and a member of the third,
or lay, order of Saint Francis, she bent her son's
mind in the same direction, gave him churchmen
12311 Struggle against the Magnates
33
for preceptors, and instilled into him a great regard
for the observances of religion and the practice
of charitable works. She was a fond but not a
foolish mother ; and Louis was subjected to the
strictest discipline. He was attended constantly
by a tutor, “ to instruct him in learning and good
manners,” who beat him when it was required.® To
this severity he owed a knowledge of Latin — an un-
common accomplishment foe a layman in that age.
The Queen in her conversation impressed upon him
forcibly the simple grecepts of orthodox faith* the
fear and obedience of God, the hatred and horror
of heresy and sin. V I had rather,” she would tell
him, “ see you dead at my feet than fallen into
mortal sin.” The piety of the time was manifested
in the building and endowing of abbeys and
churches; and in the spring of the year 1228 the
Queen and the King founded the great and noble
abbey of Royaumont, obeying an injunction of the
late sovereign, who had bequeathed his jewels Jor
such a purpose.
Early in the same year the war in Languedoc was
kindled into fresh flame. The operations on both
sides were conducted with terrible fierceness and
barbarity. It is related that the heretics, having
taken two thousand common soldiers of the enemy
in an ambush, stripped them naked, put out their
eyes, cut off noses and ears, and of some the feet or
hands, and turned them loose. It should be said,
however, that the Report of this cruelty pests upon
the authority only of a single chrofiicler. Be the
truth as it may, it is certain that in the summer a
3
» ,\i?; in«f^fniTt T i?rn 9 '
HiOBAPjAASXHA iIoTaaI, x&vj , ,;i:
34 Saint Louis [ 1226 -
regular and concerted invasion was made into the
territory of Toulouse. In the army of the crusaders
were the Archbishops of Auch and Bordeaux, the
Bishop of Toulouse, seeking to reclaim his flock,
and many other prelates, barons, and knights of
Gascony and the south ; the King also sent a strong
reinforcement. They remained three months, cut-
ting down, destroying, and burning fruit trees,
vines, corn, and homesteads, turning the country
in?o a desert up to the walls of Toulouse. This evil
and the expectation of worse reduced the courage
of Count Raymond, and led him to snatch at the
hopes which were held out of making peace, ‘espe-
cially as the English in Gascony, from whom he
trusted to receive some aid, disappointed him. He
wrote to King Henry: “ I went to your brother
Richard, but his counsellors are divided and pull
different ways, and he gave memo help/" Accord-
ingly a truce was made towards the end of the year ;
and negotiations began under the auspices of the
Legate, whom the Pope had sent back to France at
the King's especial prayer, giving him full powers
to settle the business. The same commission em-
powered him to arrange a prolongation of the truce
with England, which was effected in the month of
June, the Count of La Marche being compelled to
release the King from his oath not to treat without
his consent.
At the end of the year the rebellion agreed on by
the malcontents was ripe to bifrst ; and the power
of the Regent and the Throne itself stood in danger.
In gaining the alliance of Theobald of Champagne,
1231 ] Struggle against the Magnates 35
who from the time of his submission served her with
fidelity and zeal, Blanche had lost that of Philip of
Boulogne. Theobald, it has been observed, culti-
vated letters and the arts; was himself a poet of
merit ; and naturally inclined to the gay and civilised
life of the southern Courts, whence his mother came.
He disliked the rude habits of the barons of Northern
Europe, whose business was war, whose diversion
the chase, and who were not^yet much infected with
the spirit of courtesy and romantic love, the desire
for refinement and splendour, which was born if! the
countries adjacent to the Mediterranean, was at this
time spreading abroad, and later possessed the whole
of chivalry. His antipathy to the manners of his
peers was expressed, it seems, in an avowed con-
tempt which they resented bitterly, and the Count
of Boulogne most of all. Philip*, moreover, found
himself less considered by the Queen than he
thought his due; for she had a high sense of her
royalty and held the barons in disdain, it was said ;
nor indeed was it easy to give him a treatment equal
to his own opinion of his merits. He listened readily
therefore to the offers of the discontented party, and
fortified his towns, Calais in particular. They under-
took to make him regent and guardian of his nephew
in the Queen's place. He is accused even of having
designed to seize the crown ; but such a purpose
was not in his nature, nor is it borne out by the
testimony of his subsequent conduct. His support-
ers certainly had n 6 such plan in their niinds, as a
party among them was secretly resolved to depose the
whole family of Capet and to set up Enguerrand of
(122a-
Coucy as king. This design was confined to a few
of the barons, the most reckless, who saw, doubt-
less, the advantage which must accrue to their
independence by a change in the reigning dynasty ;
especially as he whom they proposed to substitute,
though respectable from age, nobility of birth, the
achievements of his House, and its alliance in mar-
riage with kings and princes, was not able to com-
pete with the magnates of France in the extent of
his domains or the number of his vassals. It was
reported that the foolish, ambitious old man had a
crown made for himself, which was the only thing
he did to ensure the wearing of it.
Peter of Brittany set the revolt on foot according
to the plan concerted at Montkhdry. Before reveal-
ing his rebellion he negotiated with the English, and
held out such promises of recovering Normandy
that Henry agreed to disregard the truce, and to
send him a good body of men commanded by his
brother Richard. Having got this succour, about
the beginning of December he began to lay waste
the lands on his borders. Being commanded to
appear in the King's court to answer for his con-
duct, he replied \vith a frivolous pretext for not
coming and with a list of grievances against the
Government, and continued to ravage, pushing his
inroads still farther. The Queen, in anger, marched
to punish him, and the King with her, ordering a
levy of the communes, and summoning the barons
to assemble their forces to her banner. They came ;
but with a following of two knights apiece. A
fortunate issue seemed to attend the conspiracy,
1231]
Struggle against the Magnates
37
for, as they had designed, the Queen found herself
in face of the enemy with a much inferior force.
Happily for her, the Count of Champagne obeyed
her summons with the others; but, suspecting or
knowing their intention, he raised and brought with
him a body of three hundred knights with their full
equipage of followers. This reinforcement changed
the complexion of affairs ; it was now the turn of
Peter to retire and shut himself up in his castes.
Though it was the depth of winter the Queen ad-
vanced her army and laid siege to Belesme, ajplace
strong by nature, well fortified, munitioned, and
garrisoned, and believed to be impregnable. The
rigour of the cold alone was enough to defeat the
besiegers, had not Blanche shown the qualities of a
general. She offered to buy wood, and so procured
a vast quantity from the surrounding country.
Huge fires were k£pt burning in and around the
camp, which saved men and horses from perishing
and enabled the siege-works to be pressed forward.
The presence of the Queen and her hardihood in-
cited knights and soldiers to emulation ; it was twice
attempted to carry the fortress by storm without
the least success; then battering machines were
brought up, which so broke down and crumbled the
walls and towers that the garrison, despairing of
making a defence any longer, surrendered at discre-
tion. Their lives were spared. At the same time
a force was promptly despatched to Haie-Pamel in
Normandy, which had just revolted. The rebels in
that place were caught unprepared and the seeds of
war were crushed out before they spread.
3 «
Saint Lotus
[ 1226 -
The Queen's rapidity of action astonished and
disconcerted her enemies, who had not expected a
serious attack till the winter was over. At the be-
ginning of the rebellion the Archbishop of Bordeaux,
accompanied by several lords of Gascony, Poitou, and
Normandy, had gone to England and approached
Henry, who was keeping Christmas at Oxford, with
a petition that he would himself come and retake
h 4 dominions w r ith their assistance. He received
thenj well but did not fall in with their proposal,
being advised by his chief minister, Hubert de
Burgh, who was not free from the suspicion of
touching French gold, to await a better opportunity.
A better never came; and the present was now lost.
Richard of Cornwall, who was already in Brittany,
had supposed from the language of his allies that
the King of France had no army which could make
head against them, and that Relesme was beyond
danger of capture. He was amazed to learn that
Belesme was taken, and that the royal army was
advancing in a strength which forbade resistance.
Reproaching the Count of Brittany for deluding
him into an expedition where nothing could be
gathered but defeat and shame, he embarked his
men and returned home. Peter, left alone, in order
to gain time, pretended submission and a desire to
amend his faults ; and entered on negotiations which
he neither wished nor intended to have any issue.
But his promises and the severity of the winter pre-
vented the Queen from pursuing her advantage;
she dismissed filer forces and returned to Paris.
Shortly after her re-entry a civil difficulty arose.
1231] Struggle against the Magnates 39
Her method of dealing with it exemplifies the strict-
ness, not to say severity, with which she governed.
The University of Paris was a body of dignity and
learning famous through Europe. It numbered the
most renowned theologians of the age among its
professors and attracted crowds of scholars from
many nations. It held special privileges by* grant
of the last two Kings, and was notoriously jealous
in affirming and enforcing them. The scholars were
not less vehement than their masters in the cause.
Four years before, tihey had made a riot and sacked
the house of the Legate when he sided against the
University in a dispute with the Chapter. On the
Monday before Lent, which fell this year ^
in the end of February, some scholars, natives
of Picardy, having gone to th$ suburb of y
Saint Marcel on a party of pleasure, quarrelled with
an innkeeper about the price of wine, and, making a
disturbance, were beaten and driven away by the
neighbours. Next day they returned with a num-
ber of their fellows, broke into the inn, staved in
the wine-barrels, and fell upon and wounded many
inhabitants of the quarter. Complaint was made by
the magistrates of Saint Marcel to the Cardinal-
Legate and to the Bishop of Paris, in whose juris-
diction the matter lay. Neither prelate loved the
University: the Bishop on account of its frequent
resistance to his authority ; the Legate from his old
experience. Instead of judging the case they laid
it before the Queen, recommending condign punish-
ment of that refractory and turbulent body. Blanche
acting in haste, says the chronicler, on an impulse
40
[ 1226 -
Saint Louis
of feminine passion, sent the provosts of the city
with their archers, bidding them not spare the
guilty. The archers going to the suburb fell with-
out inquiry upon the first groups of scholars that
they met and broke them up. The citizens joined
in the attack ; some of the scholars were killed or
wounded, while others were thrust into the river
and drowned.
The rulers of the University, when they heard of
the occurrence, stopped their lectures, and presented
themselves before the Queen and the Legate, de-
manding immediate satisfaction for the violence
done and for the infraction of their privileges. As
they were not graciously received and their demands
were refused, they ordered the scholastic exercises
to cease. Most of„ the professors, and all the most
learned, left the city, and were followed by the
students, many taking oath thkt they would not
return till full reparation was received. The Uni-
versity was entirely dispersed; groups of its mem-
bers settled in many parts of France and of Europe,
at Rheims, Angers, Orleans, Toulouse, in Spain and
England and Italy. Peter of Brittany offered to
establish them at Nantes; and Henry III. at Ox-
ford. The exiles took their revenge on Queen
Blanche and the Legate by composing indecent
Latin lampoons against them both. It was more
than two years before the quarrel was settled by the
mediation of the Pope, and the University returned
to its season an assurance that the King would see
that its privileges were respected and its injuries
repaired.
12313 Struggle against the Magnates 41
The conditions of peace to be granted to Toulouse
were under discussion from the beginning of the
year between the Legate and the Archbishop of
Narbonne and the agents and friends of the Count.
The negotiations drew to a head in April, ^ ^
when a treaty was concluded at Meaux, a * *
town of Brie, in the dominions of Theobald *
of Champagne, whose arbitration was used in the
affair. By his advice and that of all his friends
Raymond threw himself without reserve upon the
mercy of King and £hurch. The terms imposed
upon him ran : that the King, considering the
humbleness of the Count and hoping that he would
continue faithful to him and to the Church, was
willing to be gracious to him and to accept his
daughter Joan in marriage for one of the Princes,
his brothers. That the provinces of Toulouse, of
Cahors excepting its® capital, of Agen, and half of
Albi, should be restored to him, to be enjoyed for
his life, but without power of alienation. That
after his death Toulouse should pass in the first
place to the children of Joan by the King’s brother;
and, failing these, to the King; the other provinces
to go to Joan in event of the Count dying without
sons. That the Count should surrender to the King
the other half of the province of Albi, and all the
territories held or claimed by him on this side of
the Rhone, excepting those expressly reserved
above. That he should surrender to the Church
all his territories ancf claims on the far side of the
Rhone within the Empire, That he* should level
' the walls and fill up the moat of Toulouse and thirty
42 Saint Louis [ 1226 -
other named towns. That he should put into the
King’s hands, as a pledge, for ten years, the castle
of Toulouse, after fortifying it at his own expense,
and eight other castles. That he should restore to
the churches in his country the lands he had taken
away, and should pay them fourteen thousand
marks in four years. That he should spend four
thousand marks in maintaining at Toulouse for ten
years two professors of theology, two of law, six of
the liberal arts, two of grammar. That after re-
ceiving absolution he should take the cross, and
within two years’ time should go to make war upon
the Saracens, and remain for five years. That he
should exterminate heresy from his dominions as
far as he was able. That he should make war upon
his late ally, the„ Count of Foix, and on others who
still refused to submit to the Church; and should
keep for himself all places th&t he captured unless
the King wished to have them.
He promised to remain a prisoner in the Louvre
until his, daughter and five of the castles to be sur-
rendered were placed in the hands of the King’s
officers; and to give hostages until the wall and
moat of Toulouse were destroyed to a length of a
thousand yards. The treaty having been signed,
Raymond, together with other excommunicated
persons, was led to the altar on Good Friday, bare-
footed and in his shirt, and was solemnly reconciled
to the Church in the presence of Cardinal Romano,
Legate dn France, and Cardinal Otho, Legate in
England. Afterwards he received the cross from
the hands of the Legate, and did homage to the'
1231 ]
Struggle against the Magnates
43
King. An old author has observed that it was
touching to see so noble and powerful a count
brought into such a posture of humiliation; but
that it was a great triumph for the young monarch,
on whom God seemed to confer this signal honour
in the beginning of his reign, to subdue an enemy
who had resisted many mighty adversaries and to
impose on him several hard conditions, any one of
which might have satisfied a* King who had taken
him captive on a pitched field of battle.
A royal ordinance ^as issued for the resettlement
of the Church in Languedoc and for the suppression
of heresy. The provisions were severe; but the
execution was committed to Peter of Colmieu, a
cleric distinguished for moderation, charity, and
uprightness, who had refused nine bishoprics. He
was no friend to and was hated by the Preaching
Friars, who were the? party in the Church most vio-
lent and cruel towards heretics. He succeeded in
reconciling the people of Toulouse, and induced them
to receive their Bishop and to join against the Count
of Foix and other heretics who were still in arms.
The Count of Foix soon submitted and made his
peace in September, surrendering several strongholds
to the King. Meanwhile Count Raymond, having
given up his daughter and his castles and obtained
some modification in the terms of his treaty, returned
to Toulouse, the Legate following close behind. A
council assembled there in November to ratify the
peace, to pass ordinances for the establishment of
the university which Raymond had Undertaken to
endow, and to frame regulations for dealing with the
44
Saint Louis
11226 -
heretics. It established against them that system
of espionage, denunciation, and punishment, which
afterwards fixed itself in a severer form and was
known as the Inquisition. That the country was
not thoroughly pacified was manifest after the de-
parture of the Legate, who returned to Rome at the
end" of the year, when the Bishop underwent great
vexation and persecution from the citizens, and
several persons who Jiad shown most zeal against
heresy were assassinated.
The Count of Brittany carried on his pretence of
submission until after Easter; then abandoned it,
and sent his bands to ravage over the borders. He
had arranged that Philip of Boulogne and the barons
leagued with him should fall upon Champagne at
the same time, so that the King might be deprived
of a valuable ally ; and that an English expedition
should cross into Brittany to 'help. The confeder-
ates, however, were slow to move, and the Queen
was swift. She threw an army quickly along the
Loire, and captured the strong places of Chateaudun
and Chantoceaux, lying on either side of the river
about five leagues above Nantes. Peter hastened
to protest that he was anxious to make peace ; and
produced so much effect by the several missions
which he sent, that the Queen and King, putting
garrisons in the captured places, withdrew the rest
of their forces from his country. Meanwhile the
barons had done nothing. The King of England
had gathered a host of men and munitions of war
at Portsmouth before Michaelmas, but found no
sufficient number of ships to carry the expedition.
12313 Struggle against the Magnates
45
He attributed the fault to his minister, Hubert de
Burgh, whom he publicly with violence accused of
having treasonably procured the failure of transport,
for a bribe of five thousand marks received from the
Queen of France. Before the preparations were
made good Peter himself arrived, breathing war,
and undertook to hold Brittany as a fief of England.
But as autumn drew on, it was resolved, after long
discussion, not to trust the cljance of storms and a
winter campaign, but to defer the invasion till th’e
following spring. * *
A short time after the outbreak of Brittany *had
been checked, the confederated magnates attacked
the Count of Champagne. The Count of Boulogne,
the princes of Dreux, the Duke of Burgundy, En-
guerrand of Coucy, and many others invaded his
domain from all sides with their troops, pillaging
and destroying the country and the towns, as they
gathered towards the rendezvous which had been
named at Troyes, the capital of the province. Many
places were deserted and burned by the Count’s own
order, lest the stores in them should fall into the
enemy’s hands; but Troyes, gallantly defended by
Simon of Joinville, father of the historian, repulsed
their assault. They then encamped a few miles
away. Theobald was unable to meet them in the
field, being forsaken by many of his own vassals
who leagued themselves to the invaders: he im-
plored help from the royal power, which the mutual
obligation of fealty bound to assist and defend its
faithful lieges. It was the interest no»less than the
duty of the Regent to listen, since she was well
4 6
Sami Louts
[ 122 6 ~
aware of the designs of the confederates, and of the
danger to which she herself would be exposed when
they had crushed her chief ally. She issued letters
patent commanding the barons to leave Count
Theobald in peace ; and when these were unheeded,
gathered an army and marched with the King into
Champagne, encamping close to Troyes, where
Theobald and the Duke of Lorraine, his ally, joined
her with what muster they could raise.
A fresh royal command was sent to the barons to
leave Champagne, and due course of justice offered
if they had any complaint against the Count. They
replied insolently, that the Queen was defending
her husband’s murderer; that Champagne belonged
to Alix, Queen of Cyprus, Theobald's cousin; and
that if the King would retire to a place of safety
they would fight out their quarrel with Theobald
and his friends. They were answered that if there
was to be fighting the King would take his share;
and that he would not parley till they retreated
beyond the borders. Discomfited by this firmness,
they retired from Troyes a short distance towards
Burgundy, and the royal forces followed. Mean-
while Count Ferrand of Flanders, a faithful ad-
herent to the Regent since his release from prison,
entered with his men the lands of Boulogne, which
he pillaged fiercely. The news troubled Philip;
who now also began to perceive that his influence
was not unquestioned with his party : he was
warned,^ say some, by a message from Blanche of
the ambitions of Enguerrand of Coucy. There-
upon, it is narrated, his heart smote him because of
12311 Struggle against the Magnates
47
his treason, and he began to hold the language of
submission. “ You speak ill, he said to his pro-
testing followers; “ we shall be perjured and traitors
to the King if we trespass further against his com-
mand, seeing he is my brother’s son, and my liege
lord, and I am his liege man.” The astonished
barons gazed at one another in confusion ; then
broke into fresh remonstrance and entreaties not to
betray the common cause. “ God’s name! folly
left is better than folly kept,” was his only answer.
He proceeded to write to Blanche that he was un-
willing to disobey her and the King; and left *the
camp. 'The magnates, thus deserted by their leader,
and fearing, says a chronicler, the vengeance of the
Queen, “ who was good at rewarding according to
their merits those who had deserved her hate or
love,” hastened to make truce with the Count of
Champagne and to disperse to their homes. The
King and Queen returned to Paris.
Pope Gregory, who had a particular affection for
the kingdom of France, was much distressed by the
constant wars with which it was afflicted. He wrote
to the Bishops of Senlis, Orleans, and Meaux in the
end of this year, ordering them to use all ^ ^
endeavours to appease the troubles ; to the * '
Archbishop of Lyons to a similar effect ; and
to the Duke of Burgundy an injunction to remain
loyal to the King and to urge other princes to keep
the peace. His exhortations bore no immediate
fruit. Immediately lifter Christmas the Qount of
Bar attacked the Duke of Lorraine mid burned a
great number of villages ; the Duke with his ally,
48
Saint Louis
£ 1226 -
the Count of Champagne, returned the invasion,
and burning and destroying, inflicted more damage
than he had received. The Count of Champagne,
assisted by Ferrand of Flanders, ravaged also the
domain of the Count of Saint Paul, in revenge for
the part he had taken against him the year before.
At* the same time a private war was devastating
Bourbon and Auvergne.
In January, Peter of Brittany renewed his rebel-
lion and sent a formal message to the King, recap -
itulating his grievances, renouncing his
homage and fealty, and declaring war. He
was known to be leagued with the English
King, who was suspected also to have an under-
standing, if not an alliance, with the malcontent
barons. In its actions at any rate their party was
an accomplice with the enemy; singe the quarrel
which they still declared and pursued against the
Counts of Champagne and Flanders distracted
the strength of France, and deprived the King of the
service and support of the greater part of his realm.
This effect was not long in appearing. The royal
army, entering Anjou, occupied Angers and other
places which Peter claimed. But the Count of
Boulogne, the Duke of Burgundy, and the rest, as
soon as the forty days of feudal service were com-
plete, asserted their right to be discharged from
further attendance, and returned home to prepare
an invasion of Flanders and Champagne. The
Counts r of those provinces in their turn hurried back
to defend their dominions; and the King, left
with none but his own following, turned into the'
1231 ] Struggle against the Magnates 49
Limousin, where he received the submission and
homage of the nobles of the district, who recognised
him as Duke of Guyenne.
Theobald of Champagne, embarrassed by the
treachery of part of his vassals, could do no more
than garrison a few strong places and set guard
over the fords. The troops of the barons ravaged
his country without pity, sparing only the houses
and lands of those who joined .them. They burned
to the ground Fismes, Epernay, Vert us, Sdzanne,
and other towns, and would have reached Provifits,
where the Count lay, had not the garrisons them-
selves ©f the castles turned the whole country into
a desert, removing or destroying all stores of food,
till risk of starvation forced the invaders back.
Ferrand of Flanders on his side took the offensive,
and did great damage by raiding* the territory of
Boulogne. Meanwhile the Regent, being unable
to prosecute the war actively, sent her envoys into
Brittany to treat with the nobles of that province,
who were, many of them, on ill terms with their
Count, to foment their grievances, or to buy their
adhesion, or at least a promise not to fight for the
English. The mission was well supplied from the
royal treasury, and drew a considerable party into
engagements of support.
At last, in May, the English came. Henry him-
self led the expedition, landing at Saint Malo. He
was received as a friend and sovereign by ^ ^
Count Peter and a p£rt of the Bretons; but
those whom the Queen had gained fortified ^
their castles against him. He established his
50
Saint Louis
[ 1226 “
headquarters at Nantes, where he lay waiting for his
troops to assemble. In face of the foreign invasion
the Count of Boulogne and his allies were summoned
peremptorily to suspend their domestic war and to
assist in defending the kingdom. They obeyed so
far as to make a truce till September; and though
it does not appear that they joined their forces to
the King, the Counts of Champagne and Flanders
at any rate were set free to help him with their full
strength. By the end of May the King and Queen
gathered an army, with whicfy they moved on to the
southern border of Brittany. On the way they re-
newed the treaty of Venddme with the Count of La
Marche, and received the adhesion of several barons
of Poitou. They advanced to Ancenis, where they
summoned the loyal nobles of the province to meet
them. At that place a court was held, in which the
bishops and barons of the army gave sentence against
Count Peter, proclaiming him deposed from his
regency on account of repeated treasons. There-
upon the loyal Bretons did homage to the King
and entered into a mutual engagement with him
against the Count and the English, reserving, how-
ever, the rights of the heir of Brittany when he
should come of age. A bull of the Pope was ob-
tained to absolve them from the oaths of fealty
formerly taken to Peter.
They then besieged and took Chateaudun, which
was occupied by an English garrison and not above
five leagues from Nantes. Hfenry did not attempt
to relieve thfi place or to carry out any other military
operation. Some knights of Normandy came to him '
FIGURE ON TOMB OF PETER MAUCLERC, COUNT
OP BRITTANY.
12311
Struggle against the Magnates 51
with an invitation to proceed thither, assuring him
of an easy reconquest of the duchy. The enterprise
was declined, by the counsel of Hubert de Burgh,
as too dangerous ; and the intending rebels got no-
thing but the confiscation of their lands and castles,
which were at once seized by the royal lieutenants.
The plans of the English were laid rather towards
Poitou. They had expected the Count of La Marche
to come to Nantes; and were*disappointed when lje
forsook them, as they said, and joined the King^of
France. Nevertheless they had a strong party in
those regions, of which the principal persons were
Reginald of Pons and Aimery of Rochechouart, re-
lying on whose assistance Plenry proposed to march
through into Gascony, where his presence was re-
quired by the Governor. The Poitevins on their
part were no less anxious for his support. Aimery
of Rochechouart wrote in July, that without English
help he could do nothing should the French attack
him. Reginald of Pons also begged urgently for
aid, writing that the Regent had declared in the
presence of several persons that she would strip him
if the King kept his own. Accordingly Henry,
taking advantage of the retirement of the French
army into Anjou, entered Poitou, and thence his
own province of Gascony. He gained no success
beyond the capture of Mirabeau on his return; and
brought back his army to Nantes, where it lay in
inglorious ease and debauch, doing nothing, says the
chronicler, but spenSing an inestimable amount of
money. In October he returned to England. The
reasons are given in a letter written by Henry, at
* *
[ 1226 -
52 Saint Louis
the end of September, to Geoffrey of Lusignan. He
says that he is sick ; that the climate of Poitou has in-
creased his malady; that his brother Richard also is
sick; that he wishes to gather more men and money
for a future campaign; that he is leaving the Duke
of Brittany, the Earl of Chester, and the Earl Mar-
shat to carry on the war meanwhile. It was a wreck
of the English army that returned. The sickness
that had attacked Henry carried off many of his fol-
lowers. Their diseases were aggravated by the great
heat of summer, by their dissolute manner of living,
and intemperance in food and drink. Their horses
were dead, their money spent, and their stores con-
sumed. The Earl of Chester and the Earl Marshal,
who remained with five hundred knights and a thou-
sand men-at-arms, ravaged the borders of Anjou and
Normandy, then retired into Brittany for the winter.
The march of the English into Gascony, and their
inactivity afterwards, allowed a breathing time which
the Queen spent to good purpose in composing the
feuds of the magnates and turning their truce into a
^ P stable peace. The treaty was made at Com-
pi&gne in September. It was stipulated by
the barons that Theobald of Champagne
should expiate the faults alleged against him and
remove his presence, the cause of so much discord,
by undertaking a crusade with a hundred knights to
make war on the Infidels in Palestine. The differ-
ences of the Counts of Boulogne and Flanders, of
the Count of Bar and the D6ke of Lorraine, and
of the other* parties to the late quarrels were also
settled. A stream of gold from the royal coffers
1231 ] Struggle against the Magnates 53
smoothed the difficulties of negotiation. The Count
of Boulogne in particular received eight thousand
pounds to compensate the damage done to his lands.
The King and his mother swore on the Gospels that
they would respect the privileges of all, and would
judge all within the kingdom according to their due
and rightful customs.
Peace being made, the King held a great as-
sembly in December at Melun, where a strict
ordinance was passed against the Jews and their
usury. The swift an<J spreading growth of that evil
frequently required correction, which the rulers of
the age were rarely unwilling to take in hand. The
ordinance was set forth to be enacted by the King,
according to the advice of his barons, for the good
of the realm, and the safety of his own and his
father’s soul; it fixed a term for payment of exist-
ing debts without usurious interest, and forbade
borrowing from the Jews at all in the future. The
Counts of Boulogne, Champagne, La Marche, Bar,
and Saint Paul, the Duke of Burgundy, Enguerrand
of Coucy, and many besides, set their seals to the in-
strument, and swore to do all in their power to carry
it out and to enforce observance on others ; in spite
of which, usury and the Jews continued to flourish.
Other troubles were appeased for the present ; but
Count Peter with the English garrison remained.
There was no fresh invasion ; and war, which had
slept through the winter, was not resumed ^ ^
till the summer of tlie next year, when the * *
royal army marched into Brittany. It suf-
* fered some partial reverses and had little fortune in
54 Saint Louis [1226-1231
the campaign ; for the country was then, as always,
difficult to conquer. On the other hand, the strong-
est barons of the lower province held for the King;
and the English had no interest to continue a de-
fensive struggle, if terms could be obtained. The
Pope was exhorting both sides to peace, having
ordeVecl the Archbishop of Sens in France and the
Bishop of Winchester in England to work to that
ejad. A truce was made in July for three years,
between the Count of Brittany and the Earl of
Chester for the English on on£ part, and the Count
of Boulogne and the Archbishop of Rheims for the
* French on the other. The Count of La Marche
was also a party to the agreement. Peter was left
in possession of Brittany, but bound not to enter
the territories of the King or of the Count of La
Marche during the time of truce. In August he
accompanied the Earl of Chester to England, where
he was well received and given a pension of five
thousand marks.
THE COUNT OF CHAMPAGNE THE COUNT OF PROVENCE
CHAPTER III
THE PERIOD OF PEACE
I23I-I236
A PERIOD of repose followed, most grateful to
France, harassed and desolated in all its
provinces by continual warfare since the
King's accession. Up to this time Queen Blanche
had prevented all the designs of her numerous ill-
wishers, had established herself firmly in the regency,
and maintained if not strengthened the authority
of the Crown. The rivals and opponents of royal
power were divided, checked, or conciliated, though
still their arms remained formidable, and their hos-
tility was asleep, not dead. The settlement of Tou-
louse, however, and the repulse of the English
were definite gains; as also was the vigour acquired
to the monarchy by constant rallying and use of its
forces ; and the prestige which it earned by a course
of successful resistance. The tide, if not turned in
the King's favour, seemed no longer to be rising
against him; and tfte quiet which now ensued, to
be a respite granted for the repair and refreshment
of his powers, rather than a momentary withdrawal
56 Saint Louis [ 1231 -
of his enemies in order to advance again with double
violence. But although war ceased, a crop of less
urgent troubles sprang up, as was to be expected
from the late disorders, which had engaged so much
attention and energy that ordinary matters went
begging, and from the seeds and remnants of en-
mity and opposition which still infected the minds
of many important people.
The great ecclesiastical persons of the realm
leaned, as a rule, to the side of the Crown while it
stfhggled to maintain itself against the assaults of
the magnates. They were inclined that way both
by sympathy and interest. Being religious by pro-
fession, and often men of piety and learning, they
were sensible to the blessings of peace, order, and
equal justice. Being Churchmen, they remembered
that the House of Capet was the hereditary friend
and supporter of the Church. And they did not,
like the prelates of the Empire, stand so high in
revenue and dominion and the number of their sub-
jects, that they could deal with the secular princes
of France on an equal footing of temporal power,
and be sure of sharing all the spoils of authority
stripped from the King. Rather it was to be ex-
pected that, if once the monarchy were reduced to
a name and a shadow, the great barons would apply
themselves, without any check, to bring down the
pretensions of the prelates and encroach upon their
possessions. But as soon as the bond of common
danger was slackened, the conflict, usual through-
out Christendom, between the claims of Church and
of State began to be active.
SEAL OF THE MONASTERY OF SAINT
LOUIS OF POISSY.
1236 ]
The Period of Peace
57
The Regent was not of a temper to let the
authority which she had upheld against the fierce
attack of arms be whittled away by spiritual
weapons. Her difference with Theobald, Arch-
bishop of Rouen, has been related above. He died
soon after; and she found no less cause to complain
of the conduct of Maurice his successor. This** pre-
late is named as a devout and upright man, charit-
able to the poor and ascetic in life — the moxe
tenacious for his virtues of the rights he arrogated
to himself and his oi*der. The dispute first ^ ^
arose over the election of an abbess in his * 1 *
1233
diocese. The Archbishop took the matter
with a high hand, and excommunicated all the nuns
of the convent who had submitted themselves to the
royal decision. He was summoned to answer be-
fore the King on this and on other pleas; and re-
fused to appear, saying he had no judge but God
and the Pope, in matters spiritual and temporal
alike. The claim to be exempt from feudal law did
not pass. The lands, houses, and possessions of his
see, which were held as fiefs from the King, were
seized by royal officers. Unable to resist and un-
willing to submit he betook himself to the last
arguments of the Church. First he ordered his
clergy to remove the images of the Virgin from all
the churches, so that the people could no longer
pray before them ; then he did the same by the
images of Christ. As the Queen did not yield, he
laid an interdict on the royal domains in his* diocese,
forbidding the celebration of mass in any church
or monastery therein, and the giving of Christian
• ^ •
.
58
Saint Louis
tl 231 -
burial. Finally he extended the interdict to the
whole diocese, prohibiting all sacraments except
baptism and extreme unction. But these measures,
which deprived a province of nearly all the consola-
tions of religion, were fruitless to coerce the Regent.
The interdict lay for a year, till a settlement of the
quarrel was obtained by the personal mediation of
the Pope.
„The affair of Beauvais is another example. That
town was under the jurisdiction of its bishop, but
certain rights of appeal and supervision were par-
ticularly reserved to the King. The Bishop, was
Milo, of the House of Chastillon, Counts of Saint
Paul. Belonging by birth to the party of the
magnates, he had joined in the early opposition to
the Queen and marked himself by the virulence of
his tongue. In an assembly of lords and bishops,
where she was present, he had called her adulteress,
and accused in the grossest terms her friendship
with the Cardinal-Legate. This was one of the
common slanders on which the barons nourished
their enmity, but it could not bear the light; the
speaker had been put to shame by the Queen’s in-
dignant reply and condemned even by his friends.
A good woman is slow to forgive such an offence ;
and it may be supposed that Blanche was not in-
clined to be lenient to the Bishop of Beauvais when
he crossed her path. Milo was a spendthrift and a
^ P man of blood. Overwhelmed with debts,
1233* ^ k ac * g° ne Italy in 1230, to recoup him-
self by mercenary war; but, returning, he
fell into an ambush, and lost the fruit of his cam-
MINIATURE FROM THE PSALTER OF SAINT LOUIS.
I* +
12363
The Period of Peace
59
paigns. He came back to find Beauvais torn by fac-
tion, the richer trades being at feud with the rest of
the citizens. To settle the quarrel the King nomin-
ated a mayor from outside, who was accepted by
the rich party. But the others raised a riot, drove
the mayor and his principal supporters into a house,
set fire to it, killed twenty, wounded many others,
and dragged the mayor through the streets with
insults and beating. .
The King and Queen were at Compifegne, which is
not far from Beauvai^; the Bishop was at his house
outside the town. He went thither at once unat-
tended, a proceeding which gave strong colour to
the suspicion that he had himself instigated and
supported the rioters. His behaviour strengthened
this view. The leaders of the mob received him
with open arms ; he bade them throw themselves on
his mercy for what had taken place; but did not
attempt to arrest them, or to stop the flight which
they presently took, having received a hint to make
themselves safe. Meanwhile the King and Queen
had heard the news and were advancing with their
escort and a hasty levy of men from the neighbour-
hood. A message of their approach came to Beau-
vais- in the night; and at dawn they reached the
Bishop's house. Milo sent a message, then came
himself, begging the King not to enter Beauvais but
to leave the matter to him, and promising to punish
the guilty. The only reply he got was that the
King would come into the town and do sucfc justice
as he saw fit. The next day the royal party entered.
An inquiry was held into the disturbance, a number
6o
Saint Lotus
[ 1231 -
of the rioters were seized, the houses of the leaders
demolished, and themselves sentenced to banish-
ment, prison, or heavy fines. The Bishop protested
all the time that these proceedings infringed his
rights ; and was answered that he might carry his
complaint to the royal court, where he would have
a fair hearing before his peers.
Feudal custom bound the Bishop to defray the
King’s expenses whenever he came to Beauvais;
and they were demanded accordingly. This right
at any rate was clear; but Milo, whose feelings were
sore and his purse empty, refused to pay, pretend-
ing that he desired to consult his Chapter. His
goods were seized at once, and a guard was left
in the town to occupy his palace and receive his
revenues. The Archbishop of Rheims and the
bishops of the province took up the cause of their
colleague, as one in which their common claims and
privileges were involved. Their conduct in the
matter was governed by party zeal more than by
considerations of justice ; in hotly supporting a
bad case they ran where they could not stand, and
neither carried their particular end nor strengthened
the position of their order. They were partly led
away by the Archbishop, who being a Dreux and
brother to Peter of Brittany saw an opportunity to
embarrass the King’s government. He called a
provincial synod which sent deputies to demand
Milo’s reinstatement in his fiefs. This was refused
on the ground that the whole affair related to the
Bishop’s temporal rights, in respect of which he was
subject, like any other baron, to the feudal court
1236 ] The Period of Peace 61
before which the King invited him to appear. The
prelates would not be satisfied, and began to inter-
dict their dioceses. But the cathedral Chapters,
which had not been consulted, refused to obey the
interdicts and appealed to Rome, in which course
they were encouraged by royal letters. The Pope
was obliged to Milo by old services rendered in his
Italian wars and wrote to the King and Queen in
his favour. But he did not approve the hasty, un-
reasonable behaviour of the Bishops, and the inter-
dict was ordered to b^e removed. This was done' at
a second provincial council, where most of the'pre-
lates avowed their error; while Milo, in fits of rage,
covered them with violent abuse. He started for
Rome soon after to plead his own cause, but died
on the way of a sudden sickness and was buried at
Assisi.
It may be supposed that the politic brains of
Count Peter of Brittany did not rest from contriving
mischief through the period of truce. The Countess
of Champagne died in July, 1231 ; and the scheme
of a new combination was quickly built up on this
opportunity. Theobald was to marry Yolande,
Peter's daughter, and be reconciled to all his old
enemies. It was pointed out to him that his cousin
Alix, Queen of Cyprus, daughter of his father's
elder brother, had certain claims to the possession
of Champagne which had never been examined
thoroughly; that, if she were invited, she might
come to France to jJress her cause, and might even
win it, if well supported; that the danger could be
averted by a close alliance with the Houses of
62
Saint Louis
[ 1231 -
Brittany and Dreux ; that the Count of Boulogne,
too, was ready to favour the marriage.
Such arguments prevailed : the matter was ar-
ranged; the day and the place fixed; and Theobald
was at Chateau-Thierry, on his way to a neighbour-
ing abbey, whither the bride had been carried already
by the barons her kinsfolk. But Geoffrey de la
Chapelle met him with a message from the King:
Z My lord Count ok Champagne, the King has
heard that you have agreed with Count Peter of
Brittany to marry his daughter,, He bids you not do
this, unless you wish to lose all that you have in
France. For you know that the Count of Brittany
has done the King more wrong than any man alive/"
These plain words taught Theobald that he must
choose his side, and that he could not gain the
friendship of the barons without losing that of the
Queen. He therefore returned home, leaving Yo-
lande’s kinsmen to nurse their anger and disap-
pointment. The projected marriage had seriously
alarmed the Queen ; and she procured a papal bull
expressly forbidding it as incestuous on the ground
of close relationship between the parties, they being
^ P third cousins. But before long Theobald
was safely married to Margaret, daughter
of Archambaud, lord of Bourbon, who was
constable for the King in Auvergne.
The young King grew up during these years to
manhood and the rule of his realm. His mother
was his only counsellor, and now and for some time
longer kept the reins in her own hands. But he was
her constant companion, both in the expeditions of
12361
The Period of Peace
63
the earlier wars, and In the progresses through the
country which occupied much of her time while
peace lasted. He could have had no better teacher
in the arts of policy and government, and none
more assiduous in the lessons of piety. And he was
an apt pupil. His character so much resembled
hers, that it never rebelled against the early mould
which was impressed upon it, or grew away with
advancing years from the beliefs and feelings whicj&
had governed his youth. Such divergence is the
common lot ; and whjpre the seeds of it exist, there
is ordinarily little hope that filial love and venera-
tion will check their growth. But Louis was not
put to the trial : he continued to see eye to eye with
his mother, and it is not recorded that to the end of
her life they had a serious disagreement.
Together, therefore, they were constantly moving
through the kingdom, or rather through those parts
of it which depended directly on the Crown, setting
matters to rights and displaying and consolidat-
ing the royal authority. They paid many visits
to Poissy, the King’s birthplace, to which he was
greatly attached. Much time also was passed at
the abbey of Royaumont, then in course of build-
ing, where Louis often laboured on the masonry
with his own hands. It was his general practice to
distribute alms to the poor at the places where he
stayed; not wastefully, but as a duty expressly en-
joined by Scripture. He was noted to be courteous
and gentle in demeanour, of a patient temper, and
to abstain from oaths. He was modefate and regu-
lar in his manner of living and observed assiduously
64
Saint Lotus
[ 1231 -
the fasts and worship of the Church. This Queen
was better pleased with the society of men of re-
ligion, learning, or experience in affairs, than with
that of courtiers ; and her son mixed much in the
same company. He was not averse to the chase or
any other honest diversion ; nor was he yet ascetic
as be afterwards became. Some chroniclers, eager
to exalt his saintly credit, have attributed to this
jgeriod of his youth the renunciation of the pomps
and vanities of the world, and those austere, self-
imposed penances, which in fact he practised after
his return from Palestine. But the accounts of his
household expenses remain to confute the pious
fiction. They show sums disbursed, not only in
charity and good works, but on such matters as
furnished the ornament and amusement of life in
those times — minstrels and musicians; lions and
porcupines and other animals of a menagerie; fal-
cons and falconers; dogs and huntsmen and horses.
Money was spent on feasts also, and on gold and
silver plate; on robes of purple and scarlet and on
silks and furs. But it may be observed that, in later
years at any rate, the King's personal needs seem
to have been supplied at less cost than those of his
younger brothers.
Louis being of marriageable age, it was thought
expedient for his own good and that of the kingdom
that he should take a wife. A suitable match was
found in Margaret, eldest daughter of Raymond
Berenger, Count of Provence. Her father, a younger
stem of the Kings of Aragon, was a valiant soldier
in the continual wars of the South, and a wise prince;
1236 ]
The Period of Peace
65
but his power and wealth were not equal to his birth
or merits. Her mother was Beatrix of the House of
Savoy, a woman of great sagacity and understand-
ing and of a high ambition, which was fully gratified
by the marriage of her daughters. They had been
brought up to be queens; and all fulfilled their
destiny. •
Margaret was as noble as any lady between the
seas, and as beautiful, if the poets can be trusted.
Her only dowry was ten thousand marks, most of
which was never paid. But she was well endowed
by nature and education ; for her father had trained
her in religion, and her mother in prudence. She
was simple in dress and of a remarkable generosity.
When the marriage had been arranged, she was
fetched from Provence by a magnificent embassy
headed by the Archbishop of Sens. William, Bishop
of Valence, one out of many uncles, accompanied
her. The King and his mother met her at Sens,
with a numerous gathering of lords and ladies.
They were married there on the Saturday before
Ascension, in the year 1234; and on Sunday the
Queen was crowned and anointed in the cathedral
of Saint Stephen. Then followed a feast of great
expense. The King made new knights and dis-
tributed alms and gifts. The bridal party reached
Paris in ten days, and were received with tourneys,
festivities, and rejoicings in a city celebrated even
then for gaiety.
It is related tha? Blanche, having got. her son
married, grew jealous of the close affection which
sprang up between him and his wife. Joinville says
66
Saint Louis
[ 1231 -
in his chronicle that this weakness so possessed her
that she could not bear to see them much together;
and became particularly fond of staying at Pontoise, 1
because there she occupied a chamber between the
King and the Queen, who lay on different floors.
To escape her notice they used to meet on a private
staircase, and when the ushers saw the Queen-
mother going to visit the King, they beat on the
door with their rods, §o that he might hear and run
Uack to his apartments before she came; and the
same when she went to visit the Queen. Once too,
aftel childbirth, Margaret was lying in danger of
death, it was thought, and Louis was with her,
when Queen Blanche came and taking him by the
hand said, “ Come away; you have nothing to do
here/' The Queen cried out, " Alas! you will let
me see my lord neither dead nor alive/* and fell into 3
a faint. The King ran back, thinking she was dead,
and they had great pains to bring her to. Bystand-
ers at a sick-bed are not always convenient, and it
may be that the chronicler in narrating this incident
does injustice to Blanche; but the jealousy between
the two Queens is not doubtful.
The truce with England expired the same year on
the Nativity of Saint John ; and that stiff-necked
rebel, the Count of Brittany, prepared to
* * renew the struggle. Already, at the time
I2 34 0 f the King’s marriage, before the truce
ended, he was ravaging the lands of Breton barons
of the royal party ; and the King of England de-
spatched sixty knights and two thousand Welshmen
to help. The Regent/on her side, was not idle, but
12361
The Period of Peace
67
sent reinforcements to the garrisons of her friends in
Brittany, and a summons to all the nobles of middle
France and Normandy and to Flanders and Cham-
pagne, to the bishops also and the towns, to bring
their levies to a rendezvous for the coming war.
One army was gathered at Niort in Poitou, another
at Mans in Maine ; and great requisitions were made
for transport and supplies. It seemed that all the
growing strength and renewed vigour of the mon^
archy was to be applied to crush inveterate rebellion
in its native seat. A§ soon as the truce expired^the
King entered Brittany with his forces. There was
no question of meeting him on a pitched field; it
was a war of skirmish and siege, in which the de-
fenders did not fail to reap some advantage. But
as the invaders divided into three columns and made
regular advances, subduing the country as they
went, ultimate conquest could only be delayed, not
avoided. Peter was thrown on his own resources;
no more succours came from England ; the Count of
La Marche did not stir; his old confederates were
dead, or unready, or reconciled, or afraid to move.
He asked for an armistice in August, that he might
go to England to see if his ally would come over to
help him ; failing that, he promised to deliver Brit-
tany and all his castles to the King. The armistice
was granted to run till November. The Regent
had been in negotiation with England since the
previous year; and had good reason, perhaps, to
expect Peter's mission to be fruitless. But he was
obliged to give hostages and three stftmg places as
security for his word, which made its fulfilment
68
Saint Louis
[ 1231 -
safer. He crossed the Channel and got a cold and
discouraging reception. The English King's ex-
perience of campaigns in Brittany had not been
such as to tempt him to further efforts; and at the
moment he was not disposed to foreign adventures,
especially with an expensive and unprofitable ally,
already three parts conquered. His final answer
was that the Count must shift for himself ; that not
gjl the treasures of England would suffice to defend
Brittany.
Peter returned indignant, to stomach the inevi-
table submission as best he could. His mind was
soon made up to the unpalatable fare; he even
forced an appetite, and not only swallowed the mess
but licked the platter. He came to Paris with a
halter round his neck, bearing himself as a con-
demned traitor, and in the most abject form of
humiliation surrendered himself and the duchy, with
its towns and men and castles, into the King's
hand. But, having yielded, reasons of prudence
forbade that he should be pressed too hard. For
Brittany was less fitted than any other province to
be welded into the inner frame of the kingdom ; if
the King held it he must hold it by the sword.
And the destruction of Peter, unprofitable by itself,
would outrage the feelings and excite the alarm of
other magnates whose ally he had been and whose
peer and kinsman he was. He was allowed, there-
fore, to keep Brittany as Regent for his son, as be-
fore; but gave up the places m Anjou and Maine
which he had received under former treaties. He
engaged not to agree with the King's enemies ; and
1236 ]
The Period of Peace
69
to be governed entirely by his decision in the settle-
ment which he should make with the Count of La
Marche and with the Breton barons. He surren-
dered three strongholds for a term of years,- and
promised to go on a crusade as soon as his regency
was discharged. Having thus renewed his allegiance
to France he sent a message renouncing that of
England ; whereupon his earldom of Richmond was
confiscated. In revenge he equipped vessels ta
plunder the English merchants; a proceeding which
gave great annoyance to that nation, who called^him
no longer a noble Count but a villainous pirate.
Such was the end of Peter's career of active re-
bellion. In the beginning of this year Philip of
Boulogne had died. He was said to have
been poisoned by the Count of Champagne ;
with no other proof, it seems, than that they I2 ^
were enemies. His widow and child with their pos-
sessions passed into royal ward. Count Robert of
Dreux and the Archbishop of Lyons died about the
same time. The decease of all three was very ad-
vantageous to Theobald, inasmuch as they hated
him, and had been among the principal movers in
sending for the Queen of Cyprus, who was now
arrived in France to push her claims. A few months
later died Sancho, King of Navarre: Theobald was
his sister's son and heir to that little crown, which .
he went to assume in May, leaving Champagne in
the King's care. His chief remaining enemy, the
Duke of Burgundy* threatened an attack^ but in
face of a royal injunction thought better of it, and
gave securities for good behaviour. The Queen of
• #
7o
Saint Louis
[ 1231 -
Cyprus, having lost those on whose support she had
most reckoned and having little reason to expect
favour from either King or Pope, the two judges on
whom her suit must depend, thought it wise to
make a compromise with her cousin. This was
arranged in the autumn by the King’s mediation.
Alix" renounced her pretensions to Champagne and
its dependencies, and was assigned in exchange an
annual rent of two thousand pounds, and in addition
forty thousand pounds down. To raise the money
Theobald sold to the King for the same amount the
suzerainty over the counties of Blois, Chartres, and
Sancerre, and the viscounty of Chateaudun. The
transaction appeared very profitable to the Crown;
and was, no doubt, an essential part of the settle-
ment with Alix, rather than a necessary expedient ;
especially as the treasury of Navarre was reputed to
contain riches far exceeding the required sum. A
third of the dominions of Champagne thus passed to
the King as direct fiefs, with all rights of homage,
wardship, and reversion ; a considerable acquisition,
and deserving comparison with those of the two
former reigns.
The monarchy was beginning to ride high above
its troubles. Much had been done by arms; but
more by patience. The young King had seen too
much war from his childhood not to appreciate
highly the blessings of peace. The horrid ravages
which in that age were the inseparable incidents,
and indeed the chief part, of military operations,
had been almost continually before his eyes: the
sack of towns and castles; the burning of farms;
1236 ]
The Period of Peace
■7 1
the plunder of private goods; the destruction of
crops and fruit trees; the universal devastation,
which caused a chronicler to cry out that it seemed
as if Satan had been let loose to exercise his malice
on the realm. The repetition of such scenes could
not but impress on a mind naturally beneficent the
evils of internecine strife among Christian men* In
war of this kind there was little of the glamour of
military success which human nature, especially
among the French, finds so powerfully seductive.
No applause of crowded cities lifted the victor, re-
turning from distant fields, almost to the threshold
of divinity. Battle was the business of daily life:
not a sport, as afterwards it became ; or a rare and
heroic duty, as now. It lay at each man's door;
each man took his share, finding just so much
pleasure as a workman has in his work, and mostly
regarding the issue of gain and loss more than the
manner of achievement. The successful soldier was
reckoned and valued as we value a man skilful or
fortunate in his affairs, and no more. It was not
in civil or in European war that glory was to be
gained, but on Eastern fields, against the enemies
of God.
This way of feeling, which was the natural out-
come of the circumstances of the early Middle Ages,
was fostered and nourished by the Church. Pope
Gregory IX. was constantly exhorting the King and
magnates of France and the King of England, by
letters and by delegated prelates, and urging upon
them the reconcilement of their quafrels, both as a
Christian duty, and in order to allow some great
72
Saint Lotus
Cl 231-
effort to be made for the restoration of the fallen
cause in Palestine. An earnest appeal to Louis is
dated November, 1234.
“ How great/' the Pope writes, “ is the disgrace of
Christendom ! How great the scandal to us all ! Who
is so- hard of heart and so froward of spirit as not to
weep and cry aloud, when he hears in these days the
lamentation of the prophet renewed — ‘ God, the heathen
nave come into Thine inheritance ; they have despised
Thy holy temple ’ ? Did not your father, of glorious
memory, end his days in defending the Catholic Faith ?
We beg and charge and straitly exhort, and enjoin you
for the forgiveness of your sins, and adjure you by the
Father and Son and Holy Ghost, and by the shedding
of the blood of Jesus Christ, to gird yourself up well
and manfully to avenge the injuries of our Lord, so that
by you or yours help may be given with a great heart to
His holy land. That this may not be hindered, make
peace in your kingdom, most Christian King, and peace
with England.”
It has been mentioned already that in order to
assist and complete the purging out of long-seated
heresy an Inquisition was set up at Toulouse. This
institution was in the hands of the Jacobin friars,
whose ardent and irregular zeal made them odious
to the inhabitants, and troublesome even to the pre-
lates who received successively from the Pope the
charge of re-establishing the Church in those parts.
It was not to be expected that r Count Raymond or
the greater part of his subjects would aid that work
with any enthusiasm ; and endless complaints were
12361
The Period of Peace
73
carried to Rome of his slackness and bad faith in
carrying out the terms he had accepted at Meaux.
On his side he had much to say of the severity of
the Inquisitors; and something of their doubtful
honesty. It was alleged that the infant terrors of
the tribunal were used to condemn the innocent on
a private grudge, and even to extort money. The
Pope, as was natural, inclined to listen to the ec-
clesiastics; but the King’s intercession was fre-^
quently used in behalf of the Count. He was
accused at Rome of vexing and hindering the Church
in Languedoc through his officers, and of compel-
ling aggrieved clergy to plead their case before the
royal courts instead of their own. It is certain that
his mediation greatly softened the Pope’s rigour
towards Raymond, and even procured the restora-
tion of some part of the territories which had been
declared forfeit to the Church.
Rut the quarrel of the people of Toulouse with
the Inquisitors was not abated. It went from one
violence to another, till, in 1235 , the consuls of the
town, supported by the Count, forbade anyone to
speak, to the friars, or to give them food or water
or alms, and at last expelled them by force. The
Pope wrote angrily, threatening punishment; but
the King interceded again, and the honours rested
with Raymond, who still delayed to start on his
pilgrimage and did not even pay the wages of the
professors whom the treaty bound him to support.
His contumacy brought him no harm in the end;
for the papal policy was unwilling t5 offend the
King by insistence ; and, besides, the clerical cause
74
Saint Louis
[ 1231 -
was in bad odour through France at this time owing
to recrudescence of the strife about jurisdiction.
Accordingly the restoration of the Inquisition was
evaded, except in a modified form; and then its
powers were suspended from operation. After three
years and much negotiation, Raymond was released
in £>art from his vow of crusade, and obtained formal
absolution for all his offences.
, The claims of the clergy to be treated like a priv-
ileged caste were rejected by the magnates no less
than by the royal government. The main quarrel
rose from their contention to refer all cases in which
they were concerned to the sole decision of ecclesias-
tical courts, even when the case was civil and they
were concerned not as priests but as feoffees of land.
It was aggravated by their habit of launching inter-
dict and excommunication against all with whom
they had any dispute on matters of property, fit to
be settled by civil law. This abuse, of the spiritual
armoury in pursuit of openly temporal ends was
naturally shocking to laymen ; the more so as it put
them in a position of immediate and constant inferi-
ority, whenever their interests ran counter to those of
a cleric. A council of magnates and barons met on
this subject at Saint Denis in the autumn of 1235,
the King being present. The Duke of Burgundy
was there, and the Counts of Brittany, La Marche,
Ponthieu, and Saint Paul ; the Lords Archam-
baud of Bourbon and Bouchard of Montmorency,
and many others. They addressed a general re-
monstrance ro the Pope on the conduct of the pre-
lates, especially of the Archbishop of Rheims and
o c-
1236 ] The Period of Peace 75
his suffragans, who still sustained Godfrey, the new
Bishop of Beauvais, in the quarrel bequeathed by
his predecessor. The Archbishop of Tours also,
they complained, had forbidden his abbots and priors
to answer before their feudal suzerains in matters
concerning their fiefs; and the clergy everywhere
were setting up new claims to the prejudice of King
and barons. They begged the Pope to confirm
them in the rights which they "had always enjoyed,^
as they on their side were willing that the Church
should preserve its ancient privileges; and declared
that if the present disorder continued, they and the
King would take measures to end it. The protest
was followed by a decree to which all agreed, to the
effect that their vassals should not be obliged to
plead before ecclesiastical courts on civil matters;
that if they were excommunicated for refusing, the
goods and lands of the clergy should be seized till
they took off the excommunication ; that ecclesias-
tical persons should be obliged to plead before lay
tribunals in respect of their fiefs, but not in respect
of their persons.
These demands, though not immoderate, pro-
voked the Pope, who wrote in a bitter strain to
Louis, to the King of Navarre, and to the barons,
complaining of the decree, urging them to revoke
it, and bringing to their notice the general excom-
munication pronounced by Pope Plonorius III.
against those who made any decree adverse to the
liberties of the Church. Neither his prayers nor
his threats were effective. It is true tlfat the clerics
continued to assert their claims; but the seizure of
76
Saint Louis
[ 1231 -
goods, which was relentlessly enforced, proved more
than a match for their thunder; especially as the
Pope, in his present difficulties with the Emperor,
could not afford to go all lengths in quarrelling with
France.
The King, however, was far from desiring to op-
press the clergy, being naturally inclined in their
favour, though he would not tolerate their encroach-
^ ments. He insistedThat they should be subject in
civil matters to the civil courts; but there was no
danger, as far as he was concerned, that they would
not find there an impartial and even a benign judge.
This appeared in the affair of the Archbishop of
Rheims, which occurred a little before the assembly
at Saint Denis, and was partly the occasion of it.
The high-stomached prelate, having some dispute
with the citizens, whose lord he was, excommuni-
cated them all, and, as they did not submit, appealed
to the King. The King would have made inquiry :
but the Archbishop refused indignantly to enter into
the merits of the case. He held it sufficient that
his adversaries were excommunicate; they should
be treated as already condemned ; the secular power
was called in to punish, not to judge. Apart from
the competence of royal jurisdiction, which he de-
nied, it was impossible for him, he said, to plead
against the townsfolk, or to answer the counter-
charges of homicide and other matters which they
brought: for they were outcast from the Church
through his censure, and by the law of the Church
he could have no dealing or communion with such.
This method of reasoning did not approve itself
irv.'fV
1236 ]
The Period of Peace
77
to Louis, who refused to act without a previous
inquiry. The Archbishop then called a provincial
council, which deputed seven bishops to the King
desiring him to do summary justice on Rheims.
Their request being rejected, in November they
held another council and put an interdict on their
dioceses. The Pope confirmed it; as he did*the
excommunication of the citizens, adding that their
debtors should be released from payment. But,
such sentences did not restore Rheims to the Arch-
bishop. He had no ^strength to coerce the town,
which imprisoned his officers. So he made a virtue
of necessity, and submitted his case to the royal
judgment. Both sides pleaded, and the decision
went for the prelate at nearly every point in the dis-
pute. The King sent two commissioners to Rheims
to carry out the judgment, and to determine matters
which remained in doubt. They ordered the citi-
zens to pay the Archbishop a fine of ten thousand
pounds, and to get themselves absolved and restored
to communion.
Shortly after this the peace was again threatened
by the King of Navarre. He was somewhat lifted
above himself, perhaps, by his late accession of
dignity and wealth : certainly he regretted the fair
provinces given up to the King, and desired their
recovery : and the personal tie of loyalty and friend-
ship, which had bound him so close to the cause
of the Regent, weakened a little when she no longer
appeared ostensibly at the head of affairs. w He was
the instrument and public actor; but* the intrigue
was hatched and nursed by the Count of La Marche
78
Saint Louis
Cl 231-
A.D,
1236
and his ambitious wife. They revived the old pro-
ject of alliance with Brittany, arranging that Theo-
bald’s daughter Blanche should marry the young
Duke John. He fell in with the plan, and
the marriage was hurriedly contracted, many
great barons consenting and assisting. This
was in breach of a solemn agreement made by
Theobald with the King, not to marry his daughter
without permission, under forfeit of three castles.
In addition, the union with a newly reconciled rebel,
in itself and by the circumstances of its making, was
an unfriendly act. When the forfeit was required,
Theobald, instead of fulfilling his pledge, made a
treaty of mutual defence with the Count of La
Marche, the complicity of Count Peter of Brittany
being affirmed in the document, and began to
gather men, fortify towns, and put himself in a
posture of war.
On the other side a strong army was promptly
assembled at Vincennes. But before it came to
fighting, the Regent was negotiating, helped by
many common friends who were grieved at the
prospect of a new and disastrous strife. They urged
upon Theobald the hopelessness of resistance, since
he was far inferior in force and must be overwhelmed
before his allies could assist; and encouraged him
to desist from his rash enterprise and submit, throw-
ing himself on the King’s mercy and trusting to his
former services and to his friendship with the Queen-
mother,, The same arguments were pressed by his
own friends *and councillors and carried the victory
over his pride. He came to the royal camp
C; rv
12361
79
The Period of Peace
avowing his fault, offering to repair it, and seeking re-
conciliation. His overtures were accepted ; but it is
related that Blanche, on meeting him, reproached
him for ingratitude to the King, who had saved him
from his enemies so often.
#!'
“Then the Count/’ says the chronicler, “regarding
the Queen, who was so wise and so beautiful, was
abashed. * By my faith, Madam/ said he, 4 my heart
and my body, and all my land is at your order. There
is nothing that could please you that I would not do
willingly, and if God pleases, never will I go against you
and yours. ’ 9 ’
By the conditions of peace he promised to sur-
render three strong places, and to stay seven years
either beyond seas on the crusade to which ^ ^
he was already pledged, or in his kingdom * l
of Navarre. He remained a little time
longer at the Court ; but his position was not toler-
able. For he had many enemies there, who took
every opportunity of casting in his teeth the old
slanders of poisoning the late King and the Count
of Boulogne. And the King’s brother, Robert,
Count of Artois, a hot and impetuous youth, held
him in hatred for his recent behaviour, and vented
his spite in all manner of slights and personal annoy-
ance. Once a soft cheese was thrown in Theobald’s
face as he entered a room ; and once the tail of his
palfrey was cut by Robert’s followers; and once
they pelted him. When this came to the King he
imprisoned the culprits and ordered* them to be
hanged. Then Robert came and declared that
♦ *
So
Saint Lotus
11231 - 1236 ]
everything had been done by his command, and so
obtained their release. Theobald, not desiring to
press the quarrel, took the other course of with-
drawing to Navarre. At the King's order, the
Count of Brittany and a numerous escort of barons
attended him as far as Nantes, whence he took ship.
H€ consoled himself in retreat with music and
poetry.
“ And since much thought engenders melancholy, he
was advised by wise and prudent men," says the chron-
icler, “ to study the sweet sounds of the viol, and pleasant
delectable songs. So were made between him and Gace
Brule the finest and most delightful and melodious ditties
that ever were heard, both for voice and for viol. And
he had them written up in the hall of his house at Pro-
vins, and in that of his house at Troyes/'
Thus this affair was settled. Theobald's repent-
ance gave his promised allies no time to commit
themselves to any overt act ; and the quiet of the
realm was kept undisturbed.
HENRY, COUNT OF BAR
AMAURY DE MONTFORT
CHAPTER IV
THE PERIOD OF PEACE ( Continued )
1*36-1241 9
A S Louis reached his majority and began to take
greater hold of the direction of affairs, it
seemed that a milder and more equable
spirit was gradually infused into the royal rule.
Some part of the change must be attributed to the
changed circumstances of the time. After the
course of ten rough and hazardous years the pro-
spect cleared and the ways ran smooth. The remain-
ing diseases and disorders of the kingdom required
emollients rather than cautery. The stern and
rigorous character of government, which watches
every advantage and presses every opportunity, was
less suitable to a state of security than to the former
perils; and the obedience and respect of subjects
having been gained, it was time to manage and
humour their affections. By good fortune the
young King's disposition ran in the suitable groove,
being less severe, asse?tive, and imperious than that
of his mother. She still by experience cind author-
ity had the most considered voice in France; and
82
Saint Louis
[ 1236 -
the principles of conduct and policy in domestic
and foreign business remained hers. But they were
tempered somewhat in application to particulars by
the King's gentler soul and more scrupulous con-
science; which, without falling into mischievous
excesses of good-nature, induced him to careful
consideration of other persons' rights and to a
greater compliance with their weakness or neces-
sities.
Louis in this early period already promised the
rar^ qualities which made him later on the judge
and mediator not only of his own kingdom, but of
Europe. When a question arose with the Countess
of Flanders, who had married a new husband after
F errand's death, about the conditions of his invest-
iture, the King did not insist on judging the matter
as suzerain in his o\yn court, but referred it to the
decision of three bishops. He was the successful
mediator between factions of the citizens of Nar-
bonne, who were battering down one another's
houses with rams; and again in a private
‘ / sedition at Orleans. In that place, where a
number of students had settled and re-
mained since the disturbance of the University of
Paris, the town rose on the gown, and slew many
scholars in the riot. It happened that among the
dead were a nephew of the King of Navarre and
another of the Count of La Marche, a young cousin
of the Count of Brittany, and a kinsman of Ar-
chambaud of Bourbon. These great persons rode
into Orleans with their horsemen and put the citi-
zens to the sword. The trouble would have
12411
The Period of Peace
83
inflamed and spread had not the King settled it
He intervened also in a war on his borders between
the Bishop of Lidge and the Duke of Limbourg,
who had built a castle on the Meuse from which he
harried the bishopric. The parties allowed him to
arbitrate and accepted his decision.
As regarded his great neighbours abroad, the
King’s policy rested on the lines which the Regent
had shaped: to keep the English from gaining any
further footing in France; and to remain friends
with the Emperor, but; holding a level balance be-
tween him and the Pope. It is said that the con-
science of Louis troubled him now, as certainly it
did at a later time, about the justice of the conquests
made by his father and grandfather. Such scruples
were common to princes of that age in times of sick-
ness and adversity: the late King had avowed them
on his death-bed; but Louis was singular in feeling
them on other occasions. He did not, however, at
present try to satisfy them, distasteful, as they were
to his mother and councillors, who alleged on the
other side many arguments of good sense and
expedience.
In 1235, Henry of England had negotiated a
marriage for himself with the daughter of Simon,
Count of Ponthieu. This alliance would have es-
tablished him on the borders of Normandy, op-
posite his own coasts. Accordingly the Count of
Ponthieu was given the choice of breaking it off, or
of being driven from*his possessions for marrying
his daughter to the King’s enemy. PFe chose the
first alternative; and Henry, disappointed of the
84
Saint Louis
[ 1236 -
match, obtained another in Eleanor of Provence,
Queen Margaret's next sister, a marriage not in-
jurious and indeed welcome to France. The prin-
cess was splendidly received on her passage through
her brother-in-law's kingdom, and escorted by him
and both Queens as far as the sea. Though there
was no peace with England hostilities remained in
suspense, the existing truce being prolonged in 1238
for a further period.
The Emperor Frederick II. had been befriended
by^the last two Kings of France; and the Regent
had been careful to cherish a connection which was
founded on the mutual interest of both parties. For
the Emperor needed the support or at any rate the
neutrality of European monarchs, and especially of
the French, in his strife with the Papacy, which
never ceased to smoulder and was now about to
burst into its grand final conflagration; while his
friendship was not less desirable to the King, seeing
that it went far to secure the eastern borders, and
to check the party among German princes which,
being allied from of old with the English House,
was therefore disposed to be troublesome to France.
The good relations seemed to be threatened in 1235,
when Frederick took the Princess Isabel of England
for his third wife. He made his excuses to Louis,
writing that the Pope had pressed him to the mar-
riage and overruled the scruples which he himself
felt on account of the French alliance : he professed
that his hereditary love to France was unchanged,
and invited the King to confirm it by a visit.
Nevertheless he promised help to his brother-in-law
<rv«v
1241 ] The Period of Peace 85
in recovering his continental possessions; without
ever giving or perhaps intending to give it. His
interest was plain against a quarrel with Louis, and
had it been otherwise, his hands were soon full of
other affairs. But a just suspicion of his versatile
and dangerous policy threw some shadow for a time
over their intercourse. When the Emperor sum-
moned the princes of Christendom to meet him at
Vaucouleurs in Lorraine on Saint John Baptist's
Day, 1237, for conference about matters of common
interest, the King accepted the invitation, but, $ot
trusting the purposes of his host, prepared to go
with a retinue of knights amounting to the numbers
of an army. Either the news of this or some other
reason caused Frederick to postpone the convention.
Pope and Emperor came to an open rupture in
1239, and made a great scandal in the world. Each
party sent circular letters through Christendom,
exculpating himself and accusing the other with
long and violent invective. Their eloquence did
not lack material. The Emperor's known freedom
of thought and love of science, then counted magic,
his Oriental looseness of life, and his unscrupulous
policy, coloured the charges of heresy, blasphemy,
immorality, and treachery, to which was added per-
secution of the Church. On the other hand, the
excesses of the Italian adherents and mercenaries of
the Holy Father, his intrigues among the subjects
of the Empire, and the shifts by which he was forced
to raise money for the war, afforded no edifying
spectacle to Europe, and gave ground to the Em-
peror for reproaches of simony, sedition, cruelty.
86
Saint Lotus
0236 -
avarice, and ingratitude, with which he seasoned
his main argument, that he was fighting the battle
of all temporal princes against the encroachment
and aggression of the Roman See.
The Pope hurled solemn anathema against Fred-
erick, declaring his subjects released from their oaths
and bound to refuse obedience. He sent legates
into France, England, and Germany, to see that the
sentence was published in all the churches, every
Sunday and Saint’s day, with beaten bells and
lighted candles; and to exact*- from the clergy a tax
of a fifth of their revenues for the support of the
papal cause. They were allowed to carry out their
commission in France, and also in England, though
Henry was the Emperor’s brother-in-law. But
Louis sent an embassy to Rome to arrange a recon-
ciliation if he could: the English King joined his
good offices, and matters seemed in train. It was
reported at one time that the Pope was holding
out, having heard that his legates had reaped a rich
harvest; whereupon Louis ordered that the moneys
collected from the clergy should not be taken out
of the kingdom, till a settlement was reached. But
no acceptable terms could be found: and the un-
happy quarrel took its course.
Gregory, who claimed to have deposed the Em-
peror, was anxious to procure a rival; a method
often used by his predecessors. Failing to tempt
the German princes with the^dangerous honour, he
offered the Imperial crown to the Count of Artois.
The offer was considered in the French Council,
which advised its rejection. The barons were
1241]
The Period of Peace
87
outraged and affronted by the arrogant pretension of
temporal supremacy, and expressed their resentment
in a plain answer to the papal envoys.
“ How does the Pope dare,” they asked, “ to disin-
herit the Emperor, who has no superior nor equal among
Christian princes, before he has confessed or been con-
victed of any crime ? For as regards that which is
charged against him, we do not accept the judgment of
his enemies, of whom the Pope is known to be chief.
He has been blameless towards us and our good neigh-
bour, and has kept word and bond; nor have we 3een
aught amiss in him towards the Catholic Faith. We
know that he has fought truly for the Lord Christ, boldly
encountering the perils of seafaring and battle: so much
religion we have not yet found in the Pope. Rome cares
nothing for the spilling of our blood, while we wreak her
grudges. After destroying the Emperor she will tread
under foot all the kings of the earth, lifting the horn of
pride and arrogance.”
They were concerned, however, by the accusation
of heresy made against Frederick ; and declared they
would send a special embassy to inquire into and
reassure them on this point.
“ If we find nothing unsound, why should we make him
our enemy ? But if otherwise, yea, if any man, even
the Pope himself, thinks evil against God, we will pursue
him to destruction. ’ *
Envoys were sent to Frederick accordingly ; and
were satisfied with his profession of orthodoxy.
88
Saint Louis
C1236-
“ I believe as a Christian,”, he told them, 4 ‘whatever
my enemy may say who thirsts after my blood and the
overthrow of my honour: but the Pope has favoured my
rebels against me, especially the Milanese, who are
heretics.”
But as the King repelled the Pope, when he
stepped beyond his province, and in endeavouring
to destroy the Emperor seemed to derogate from all
temporal sovereignty; so he was equally ready in
asserting his neutrality against the other side; and
forced Frederick so to conduct the quarrel as not to
disturb other countries or infringe the liberties of
the Church outside his own dominions. In Italy
and Germany he would not interfere : that was the
domestic battle-field of the combatants. But he
made it his care as far as possible to prevent the
scandalous struggle from overflowing those bounds
and encroaching on fields where his native interests
might be involved and overwhelmed in the waves of
discord.
The Count of Provence having espoused the papal
party was attacked by his neighbour and old enemy,
Raymond of Toulouse, instigated by the Emperor.
Raymond obtained some success of arms, and took
the opportunity to recapture his surrendered castles
across the Rhone; the French knights, who held
them, giving him sufficient pretext by riding to help
the father of their Queen. Louis was angry at the
news, blaming the Emperor. 'He sent a reinforce-
ment of seven hundred horse to Provence, and
gathered a larger army. But not wishing to be
r- r
1241 ]
The Period of Peace
89
hasty, he first inquired of Frederick whether he
took this quarrel on himself. The Emperor pro-
tested with many excuses that he had neither in-
tended nor desired injury to France; and that the
Frenchmen themselves had begun, by making war
on Toulouse in aid of Provence : it was not surprising
that retaliation had followed. He suggested that
both sides should restore their captures and make
compensation for the mischief done: “ in order that
the seeds of hatred sown by the enemy of mankind
may sprout no further, and our foes may not rejoice
over our confusion.” His amicable professions led
to a peaceful settlement.
The Pope summoned a general Council to meet in
Italy in 1241 to consider the dispute with the Em-
pire. Frederick had good reason to expect that
such an assembly would be the ready instrument of
his adversary, to register sentence in a prejudged
case, and lend to papal condemnation the apparent
weight and sanction of the universal Church. He
declared himself resolved to hinder the Council.
Nevertheless, by the efforts of the Cardinal-Legates
in France and England a great concourse of prelates
was gathered at Genoa in the spring ; among them
the Archbishops of Rouen, Arles, Bordeaux, and
Besangon, the Bishops of Nismes and Puy, the
Abbots of Cluny and Cisteaux and Fescamp. Their
way on land was beset by the Imperial troops : Fred-
erick offered them safe-conduct, desiring to lay his
own case before them; but they refused, preferring
to trust the waves and the convoy of Zhe Genoese,
who held themselves masters of those seas. An
*1 3,
9 o
Saint Louis
[ 1236 -
Imperial fleet engaged them on the passage, sank
three galleys and captured the rest, two-and-twenty
in number, with three legates and over a hundred
archbishops, bishops, and abbots on board. The
prize was carried into Naples, where the prelates
were kept in prison. The Emperor wrote to the
priifces of Europe, announcing the capture, and in-
viting them to rejoice with him over this signal blow
given to the assault on the common privileges of
kings.
Louis, however, was not inclined to §ee the pre-
lates of his realm seized and Imprisoned for attending
a Council to which they had been lawfully summoned
by the highest authority of the Church. He asked
their release; and not obtaining it,*wrote again in a
^ p higher tone. After recalling to the Emperor
the ancestral friendship of their houses and
his own refusal to help the papal faction, he
expressed surprise at the imprisonment of the French
bishops, who were not implicated with the Pope and
had done nothing but their duty. Their detention,
he said, was injurious and dishonourable to himself.
Let the Imperial wisdom weigh carefully what we
write/’ the despatch concludes, “ and not regard merely
its own power and desire; for the kingdom of France is
not so weak that it will let itself be ridden with spurs.”
Frederick gave way to the menace, and set his
prisoners at large.
Two great wounds were inflicted on the common-
weal of Christendom, thus disordered and inflamed
in its chief members, by the defeat of the crusaders
r>. r
124 ?]
The Period of Peace
91
in Syria, and the irruption of the Tartars into Hun-
gary. In the course of the late civil wars many
magnates and barons of France had undertaken the
passage into Palestine. To do so was a frequent
condition of peace, partly intended to occupy ad-
venturous spirits and be a security against trouble at
home. Others joined from devotion, or love of gtory.
The enterprise was long delayed : first by the un-
settled state of the kingdom ; then by the great
preparations needful for a distant expedition; and
by the discouragements offered by Pope and Em-
peror. Both of them professed indeed, as they were
bound, general approval and patronage of the crusade
and zealous desire to assist it ; but both thought first
of their own affairs, and required or urged postpone-
ment from time to time, as it served some particular
end of policy.
A start w r as made at last in 1239. The crusaders
gathered at Lyons. The King of Navarre was there,
and Count Peter, having handed over Brittany to
his son, now of age; Hugh, Duke of Burgundy,
Amaury of Montfort, the Counts of Macon and
Bar and Nevers, and great part of the baronage of
France; some English also were with them. Louis
had been active in forwarding the expedition. He
provided equipment and money for many poor
knights, who desired to join in the passage but had
not the means to fit themselves out ; he sent Amaury
of Montfort, who was an experienced captain and
Constable of France, assigning him a daily sum for
his expenses; he undertook to guard the castles of
the barons till their return. The Count of Macon
92
Saint Louis
[ 1236 -
pledged his lands to the King for ten thousand
pounds and a thousand a year. As he died in
Palestine and his widow and heirs confirmed the
cession, the county reverted to the Crown.
Most of the crusaders passed down the Rhone
and sailed from Marseilles; others went by way of
Brindisi. They landed at Acre, fifteen hundred
knights and forty thousand mounted men. The
occasion was favourable to their arms, from the
disputes of the Saracen rulers. But they were
ruined by the same disunion^ which had attended
their rebellions at home. The King of Navarre
was named leader on account of his rank, though
most would have preferred the Duke of Burgundy.
They acted without a common plan. Peter of Brit-
tany began to plunder on his own account, and
made a fortunate foray to the north, in which he
gathered great booty. This raised the envy of the
Duke of Burgundy and other princes; who, think-
ing to imitate his success, undertook a similar raid
themselves, unknown to him or to the King of Na-
varre. But the Saracen horsemen surprised them in
the sands near Gaza at the end of a long night
march. The weary and floundering troops of the
Christians were shamefully defeated. The Count
of Bar and the lord of Clermont were killed, with
many others; the Duke of Burgundy fled; Amaury
of Montfort was taken and sent in captivity to
Egypt.
This reverse destroyed the courage of the crusad-
ers, who attempted no further offensive operations.
Their feeble and divided state was only saved by
. 1241 ]
The Period of Peace
93
the greater discords of the Infidel By aid of the
Templars the King of Navarre and the Count of
Brittany were able to patch up a truce with the
Sultan of Damascus, and returned to France a year
after their departure without waiting to see it carried
out Their hopes were so low that they did not
stay for the arrival of Richard of Cornwall, who '’had
already started with an English force, being splen-
didly entertained by the King in his passage through
France. He reached Acre fifteen days after they
left, and was joined lory the Duke of Burgundy and
those of the French who remained. On the advice
of the Hospitallers, who always ran contrary to the
Templars, he abandoned the truce with Damascus
and made another with the Sultan of Egypt, who
was the main head of Saracen power ; thus procuring
the release of the French captives, and a nominal
surrender of Jerusalem itself and many other places
in the Holy Land. He fortified Ascalon, and
buried the bones of the dead on the field of Gaza,
endowing a priest to say masses for their souls.
Then he came home, leaving the Christians of Pales-
tine in their former precarious state, chiefly main-
tained by the strength of the military orders of the
Temple and the Hospital, which one or the other
Sultan found useful in the balance against his rival.
The ill fortune of the crusaders was attributed by
many to the internal dissensions of the Christian
world. What blessing, or what human probability
of success, it was asked, could be expected to follow
an enterprise against the Infidels, when Pope and
Emperor, who should be working together in the
94
Saint Louis
[ 1236 -
holy cause, were entirely occupied in pursuing a war
of mutual destruction ? And men’s thoughts were
hardly recovered from this grievous course of reflec-
tion, when they were turned again into the same
channel by the growing rumours of a new danger.
This was the advance of the Tartars: a horde of
migtatory horsemen, flowing out of the vast and
silent recesses of Asia, like some sudden, unex-
plained plague of nature, on the haunts of civilised
men. It was the blind surge of a moving nation,
unknown and terrible, spreading to its limits in
irresistible flood. First they overran Asia Minor,
sacking the rich sultanate of Iconium. The Sara-
cens of those parts, forgetting their enmity with the
Christians in presence of so strange and barbarous
^ jy foes, sent an embassy to France and Eng-
T ‘ o land, asking for aid to stem the torrent
which threatened to overwhelm the whole
world. But the danger was too far, and the hatred
of Infidels too strong, for their prayers and argu-
ments to be effective. The common feeling was
expressed by the Bishop of Winchester in England,
who said that the dogs should be let devour one
another; then the remnant of them could be cleaned
off the earth, and all men be brought into the Catho-
lic Church.
In three years' time, however, the peril was press-
ing on Europe. The Tartars did not go southward,
^ jy but streamed round the coast of the Black
‘ * Sea into Poland, Hungary, and Bohemia.
Terrifying tales of their appearance, num-
bers, and ferocity reached the West. They were
1241]
The Period of Peace
95
little men with great heads, thick necks and bodies,
long arms, and legs little and feeble ; of wonderful
courage and endurance; riding on strong horses.
Their aspect was savage, their cries horrible; they
were clothed in skins, and armed with iron knives
and bows, being very skilful archers. They ate no
corn ; but fed on the flesh of cattle, horses, or men,
which they carried in dried strips ; their drink was
fermented milk or blood. Thus provisioned they
moved great distances with incredible speed, fodder-
ing their horses on leaves and roots when grass
failed, and crossing rivers and marshes by help of
inflated hides. The women fought like the men,
following the host in waggons, which carried all
their goods. They neither took nor gave quarter;
and did not spare man, woman, or child. They
were believed to worship their swords and to be
without laws or government; but little could be
learned on this head, since they refused to speak or
to eat if captured, and were obstinate under what-
ever torture.
Such were the enemies who threatened Christen-
dom. They defeated the Hungarians, and so wasted
the whole country that men returning after they
had passed found no food but dead bodies. Their
ravages went farther west; and the fear of them
prevented the men of Friesland from coming to
England for the herring fishery. The Duke of Lor-
raine wrote that they had entered Poland and were
likely to destroy the thurches and peoples of North
Germany. Men’s uneasy minds believed them a
scourge sent by the judgment of God and predicted
96
Saint Louis
[ 1236 -
ill the Revelation. It was said that their Khan
had inquired of his idols, and been told to advance
boldly, since three spirits had been sent before his
face to confound his adversaries: the spirits of dis-
cord and unbelief and fear. The relation shows
to what pitch of despair and conscious weakness
Europe was reduced. Fasts and prayers were or-
dered in the churches for the appeasement of the
quarrel between Pope and Emperor, and for the
overthrow of the Tartars.
France was infected with ^ the general dread of
this calamity ; but the King is related to have dis-
cussed it calmly and cheerfully, saying that, if the
Tartars came, there was this comfort: to meet
them, and either drive them back, or else earn a
martyr’s crown by dying in battle for the Christian
faith. The opportunity, however, did not arrive.
The invading tide, having reached its flood, began
to ebb. The Emperor, though complaining that
his arms were hampered by the unnatural hostility
of Rome, contrived to send great succours into
Hungary; by which assistance the Tartars were
defeated in a bloody battle on the banks of the
Danube; and on this account, or, more probably,
because of the death of their great Khan, they
retreated soon afterwards.
It has been said above that certain Mohammedan
princes sent an embassy to France to ask assistance.
One of these was the notorious Old Man of the
Mountain, who had entered 1 " into relations with
Louis the year before in a very curious manner.
This singular sovereign ruled a tribe, or rather a
1241 ]
The Period of Peace
97
fanatic sect, called Assassins, whose name has be-
come a word of reproach. They inhabited the
mountains of Southern Syria; and though con-
temptible in numbers, made their chief formidable
by the extraordinary habit of absolute obedience in
which they were trained. They were like human
weapons in his hand ; every command he gave was
carried out blindly by his individual subjects,
though it involved immediate and certain destruc-
tion to themselves; for they believed that dying
thus they went straight to Paradise. He used this
power, which put the lives of other sovereigns^ at
his disposal, alike for purposes of piety and profit;
despatching messengers of death to execute enemies
of his religion; or levying blackmail on neighbour-
ing potentates as the price of safety. The military
orders established in Palestine almost alone resisted
his demands: for being corporations with elective
heads, to whom a competent successor was easily
provided, they despised his assassins, attacked him
boldly, and reduced him to terms and the payment
of tribute.
Having heard that the King of France was a
monarch of great Christian zeal, and about to take
the cross, he sent two devotees to murder him.
But, learning soon after from the Templars that he
was mistaken ; that the King himself was not coming
on the crusade ; and also that he had several brothers
almost equal in age, he repented of the unprofitable
design, and, despatched two men more to stop its
execution. The later envoys arrived in France first,
and presented themselves to Louis with an account
9 8
t!236-
S aint Louis
of the purpose of their journey. He was naturally
disturbed by thought of the daggers which might
strike him at any moment unawares, and had him-
self guarded wherever he went by men carrying
copper maces. Meanwhile, by his leave and help,
the Syrian envoys were searching for their com-
patriots, and, not succeeding at Paris, went to Mar-
seilles, where they found them. All four returned
to the King, who, glad to have escaped the danger,
and attributing the repentance of the Assassin prince
to Divine interposition, and perhaps considering it
wise to conciliate such an adversary, dismissed them
with rich gifts for themselves and their master.
The piety and zeal, which fame thus reported as
far as Asia, were manifested in the usual ways of
the time. Louis was assiduous in the exercises of
religion. On his visits to Royaumont he lived and
fared like the monks, observing the rule of silence,
and restraining his younger brothers and courtiers,
who sometimes accompanied him, from wandering
about, playing, and conversing loudly, as is the man-
ner of such persons in such places. Both he and
his wife were constant alms-givers and feeders of the
poor, and indeed liberal in any good cause. Louis
was not a complacent and foolish spender : he
squandered no treasure on favourites, and nourished
no swarms of hungry Provencals and Savoyards,
like his brother of England. The English nobles
remarked the difference, drawing a bitter parallel
against their own King. Butliis purse was always
open to relieve a needy noble or poor scholar, or to
give a dowry to the daughter of an impoverished
1241]
The Period of Peace
99
house. He helped with a large hand the begging
Emperor of the East, Baldwin of the family of
Courtenay, who came through Europe soliciting
men and money to establish his tottering throne,
and not only got great sums and many soldiers from
the King of France, but having pledged to him the
county of Namur for fifty thousand pounds, 're-
ceived it back without any payment.
The hatred of heretics and Jews, as enemies of
God, was a virtue highly esteemed by that age,
though repugnant anjJ hardly intelligible to this.
Louis shared it with all pious persons and with most
who were not, and was not backward in lending the
secular arm to the Church for her task of chastising
and rooting out errors thought damnable and de-
structive of men's everlasting souls. The heresy
called Paterine or Bulgarian, the tenets of which it
is not needful to discuss, had gained a strong foot-
ing about this time in Flanders and the northern
parts of France. A certain Brother Robert, himself
converted from the same error, received in the year
1236 a commission from the Holy See to extirpate
it ; and was assisted by the King with the necessary
men and money and commendation to the local
authorities. He was a keen hunter of the game,
and was called the Hammer of Heretics. Within a
few months he seized fifty persons at Peronne, Cam-
bray, and other places, convicted them before the
episcopal courts, and burned or buried them alive.
Many others recantea ; and these were shaved close
and their garments marked with a cross before and
behind. Sometimes they were shut up for a season
[ 1236 -
ioo Saint Lotus
to repent and meditate. It is related that both the
King and the Queen-mother intervened on occasions
to rescue victims from his fury.
Brother Robert continued in his inquisition for
several years ; but it appears that his sharp surgery
had cut away the disease; for executions became
rar£. His greatest exploit, however, was in a new
field, in 1239, when he burned over one hundred and
eighty heretics at once at Mont-Vimer in Cham-
pagne, in the presence of the King of Navarre and
many bishops: “ a mighty jholocaust,” writes a
contemporary monk/' and acceptable to the Lord.”
After this he was found to have abused his powers,
and in his reckless and uncurbed zeal to have con-
founded innocent with guilty. A papal letter sus-
pended him from further exercise of his office; he
was tried and condemned to perpetual imprison-
ment.
The Jews escaped more easily. The theory and
practice of religious persecution, which Christianity
inherited from that people, and which it has often
turned against them so terribly, bore lightly upon
them in France in this reign. It was rather their
usury that was reprobated and repressed. That
practice, it is true, and those who followed it, were
more hated, by the King at any rate, as being
offensive to God than as injurious to society. Or-
dinances were made against Jewish usurers, which
failed, as ever, to be effective. But they did not
suffer in their persons excejft from the periodic
violence of the populace : it is even recorded that
in Poitou they received shelter from the mob in a
12413
IOI
The Period of Peace
royal castle. Their usurious and illegal gains were
confiscated. Louis did not keep the confiscations
for himself, though to do so was the habit of rulers
of the time, and in part, it may be suspected, the
motive of such legislation. He returned the money
to the debtors from whom it had been extorted, as
far as he could find them. The rest was given,' by
the Pope’s advice, to the Emperor Baldwin.
But if the King did not, like other princes, plun-
der the Jews for his profit, he detested their sect no
less, as is shown in his public burning of the 'Xal-
mud. The step was recommended by the Univer-
sity of Paris, which had examined the work and its
commentaries upon an order from the Pope. The
Archbishop of Sens, a man of great learning, at first
dissuaded the King ; but he dying suddenly of a colic
just a year after, this was considered to be
a judgment of God, and Louis burned all
copies of the Talmud he could lay hands on.
His piety was active, though less invidiously, in
the acquisition of relics of undoubted sanctity.
Many such were still preserved among the treasures
of Constantinople, and in the present distress of the
Eastern Empire appeared richer assets than any
masterpiece of ancient art. It was not thought
seemly to make them objects of barter and sale. But
the Emperor Baldwin, willing to reward and encour-
age the King’s generosity, presented to him a most
precious and celebrated relic, the Crown of Thorns.
The Venetians had it in pawn for ten thousand
pounds, and the gift carried the necessity of redemp-
tion. Two friars were sent to Constantinople for this
102
Saint Louis
[ 1236 -
purpose, and to bring the Crown to France, The cir-
cumstances of its arrival are fully related in a narra-
tive drawn up by the King's own order. On having
word of its approach — it was in August of the year
1239 — he went out joyfully to meet it, accompanied
by his mother and brothers, the Archbishop of Sens
and 6 other prelates, and as many barons and knights
as could be gathered at sudden notice. They met
the returning envoys about five miles beyond Sens,
bearing a wooden chest. Opening it, they found a
silver coffer fastened with the^seals of the magnates
of the Eastern Empire and of the Doge of Venice.
When these were broken a case of pure gold ap-
peared within, containing the Holy Crown itself.
All gathered round to see it, transported with devout
fervours, as if they beheld the sacred Head of the
Lord, that once had worn it. The boxes were then
closed and made fast with the royal seal. Next
day Sens was entered. The whole populace came
to meet them rejoicing. The King and the Count
of Artois walked barefoot, carrying the reliquary on
their shoulders. They were surrounded by knights
and nobles, also barefoot. The procession of people
was headed by the clergy, carrying bones of the
saints and other relics. The citizens displayed their
richest treasures in the streets ; the whole town was
full of lighted candles, and sounding with bells and
organs and joyous voices of worship. The sacred
Crown was borne into the church of Saint Stephen,
and there uncovered before the people. Next day
it was carried on towards Paris, attended by a tri-
umphant concourse along the road. Coming to the
BCHOT ^ cut-Ai/HOT
RELIQUARY OF THE TRUE CROSS.
KNOWN AS THE RELIQUARY OF BALDWIN.
* m
12411
The Period of Peace
103
city on the eighth day at dawn, they were met by in-
numerable crowds, and by clergy in copes and albs,
bearing large waxen tapers. A great pulpit was
erected on open ground outside the walls, from
which the relic was displayed ; while prelates and
clergy in their robes preached gratulatory sermons
to devout multitudes. The procession was then re-
sumed, and entered the city in the same order amid
the same ceremonies and rejoicing as at Sens. It
passed to the cathedral of Notre Dame, where a
solemn service was Ijeld ; and thence to the Palace,
to deposit the Crown in the chapel of Saint Nicholas,
which was soon frequented by pilgrims from all
parts of Christendom.
Two years later, by a similar transaction, Louis
acquired a portion of the True Cross, redeeming it
from the Venetians, to whom Baldwin had pledged
it for twenty-five thousand pounds. It is related
that this relic, even more precious than the former,
was received in Paris with no less state. The King
with the two Queens and the Princes, the archbish-
ops, bishops, abbots, and magnates of France, after
displaying the Holy Wood to the populace from a
platform outside the walls, as before, entered the
city in procession. Louis himself, who had fasted for
three days in preparation, carried the Cross, holding
it aloft, his arms being supported when they became
weary by the nobles who walked beside him. Then
came the two Queens and the Princes, bearing the
Crown of Thorns on a litter. All went barefoot and
bareheaded and fasting. They followed the former
order of going, first to Notre Dame, then to the
104
Saint Louis
0236 - 1241 ]
Palace. “A more solemn or joyful sight,” says the
chronicler, was never seen in the kingdom of
France.”
In order to give these treasures a worthy abode,
the King built in the close of his Palace the church
which still stands, and is called the Holy Chapel.
The work was the admiration of that age, as it has
been of those succeeding, no less for the beauty of
its fabric than for the splendour and richness of the
shrines in which the holy relics were contained.
Thg building is said to have- cost forty thousand
pounds; a hundred thousand was spent on the
shrines, which were encrusted with gold and jewels
and the most precious kinds of stone.
THE KING OF ENGLAND HUGH, COUNT OF LA MARCHE
CHAPTER V
THE ENGLISH WAR
1241-1243
L OUIS VIII. had by his will devised appanages
to his younger sons, with which they were to
be invested as they came of age. Robert had
received the county of Artois ; and to the next
brother, Alphonso, Poitou and Auvergne were al-
lotted. Alphonso, who had been married to Joan,
the heiress of Toulouse, according to the provisions
of Meaux, reached his majority in 1241. In the
same year the King brought him to Saumur on the
border of Poitou, intending to install him in his
new dominions. The occasion was marked with
pomp and a great assembly of magnates and barons,
in order the more to impress the provinces, which
had hardly yet forgotten their old allegiance to
Aquitaine. On the day of Saint John the Baptist,
Louis knighted his brother and several other youths
of rank ; and invested him with the counties of Poi-
tou and Auvergne. High festivities followed, which
Joinville, who was present, has describee!. The ban-
quet was spread in the spacious cloisters built by
105
io6
Saint Louis
[ 1241 -
Henry Plantagenet, the second of England. The
King, attired in a vest of blue satin , and a surcoat
and mantle of rose-colour trimmed with ermines, sat
at the chief table with his brother, now styled Count
of Poitiers, the Count of La Marche, Count Peter of
Brittany, and the King of Navarre. The Counts of
Artois and Soissons carved and served his meats ;
his chair was guarded by Humbert of Beaujeu, Con-
stable of France, Enguerrand of Coucy, and Archam-
baud of Bourbon, each attended by thirty knights
clothed in silk, behind whom .stood trains of yeomen
in blazoned tabards. Twenty Archbishops and
Bishops ate at the middle table ; and beyond them
was that of the Queen-mother, served by the Infant
of Portugal, the Count of Saint Paul, and a young
German prince, son of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary,
In the other cloisters, and on the turf in the centre,
feasted a multitude of knights, three thousand in
number. Men said that so many garments of silk
and cloth of gold had never been seen before.
After gorgeous ceremonies of investiture, the
Court moved to Poitiers, that Alphonso might re-
ceive the homage of his vassals, which was paid
with apparent willingness in the face of so imposing
a display of wealth and power. But he mounted a
dangerous seat. The claim of the English King to
Poitou was not renounced, nor his interest dead.
The turbulent nobles of the province, loving a distant '
master and a light hand, and accustomed to balance
France against England, though acknowledging the
conquest, still kept some intelligence with their
ancient suzerain, who was established in the neigh-
12433
The English War
to;
bouring borders of Guyenne. The chief among them
was Hugh of La Marche. Though a vassal of Poi-
tou he took rank with the magnates of France. He
was lord of Marche and Angouleme and much be-
sides, the head of a House which had given kings
to Cyprus and Jerusalem, and was married to the
Queen dowager of England, whose aspiring spirit
was ill content with a lower place. Having fought
and negotiated with the King on an equal footing, he
was reluctant to admit the closer and more irksome
supremacy of a prince of the blood, which reduced
both his power and dignity, placed a master between
him and the King, and made him second man in a
region where he had been first. He feasted with the
rest at Saumur and paid his homage at Poitiers ; but,
withdrawing immediately, gathered his forces and
lay at Lusignan, threatening the Court; Louis
would have been glad to be back in Paris; but he
did not venture to move until, after several confer-
ences with the Count, an agreement was made, very
disadvantageous to the Crown, by which war was
averted for the moment.
It was only a short respite. Count Hugh at once
set himself to procure allies and contrive a league
against the King. Henry of England listened
gladly to his overtures, being particularly aggrieved
by the contempt of his title shewn in granting Poi-
tou to a French prince, when he had himself lately
professed to confer it on his brother Richard. He
forgot his former campaigns, and saw a most favour-
able chance of recovering the dominions of his
House. The Count of Toulouse came in readily,
xo8
Saint Louis
0241 -
hoping to shake off the fetters of the treaty which
bound him, and the unwelcome heirship of his son-
in-law. The King of Aragon joined on account of
his pretensions in the south of France. The allies,
already thus formidable, approached the Kings of
Castile and Navarre and the Emperor himself, and
by the common delusion of such coalitions seem to
have expected, on slight grounds and the mere en-
couragement of one another, the accession of those
princes ; the event, however, disappointed them.
Ps^er of Brittany was with them at first ; but, for a
change, turned loyal, and betrayed their plans to the
King.
At Christmas Alphonse held a court at Poitiers
and summoned the Count of La Marche among his
other vassals to keep the festival. As matters were
not yet ripe for war, PI ugh was inclined to obey ; but
changed his mind on the eve of going, under the
persuasion and reproaches of his wife, who had no
mind to give precedence to the Countess of Poitiers,
and was still sore from the slights which she con-
ceived the two Queens to have offered her in the
summer. They came ; but only to defy Alphonso
to his face and renounce allegiance ; then setting
fire to the house where they had been lodged, rode
out of the town with thundering threats, sur-
rounded by armed men and archers with crossbows
at stretch. Alphonso complained to the King, who
summoned PI ugh to appear at Paris and answer for
his conduct. When the call was refused, he brought
the matter up in Parliament before the peers, asking
what should be done with a vassal who wished to
r &
12431
The English War
109
hold his land without a lord and denied faith and
homage. They replied that in such a case the
lord should seize his fief. “ By my name/’ said
Louis, — for that was the only oath he used, — “the
Count of La Marche wishes to hold in this manner
lands which are fiefs of France since the time of
King Clovis, who conquered Aquitaine from Alaric
the pagan.”
The barons were strong against the Count, who, on
his part, began to urge the English King to act
quickly. Letters wej;e sent, by Hugh or by Isabel,
desiring him to come at once, with or without men,
but with abundant supplies of money, which would
raise and nourish an army from Gascony and Poitou.
By this means, and with the help of Toulouse and
Aragon, not to speak of the other confederates, his
ancient provinces might be reconquered.
The flattering prospect captivated Henry and his
brother Richard and his Provencal counsellors, but
was less attractive to the barons and prelates of
England, whom he called together in January
to ask an aid of money. They were not ‘
anxious to aggrandize the King, which re- I2 4 2
suit must follow from a successful war abroad ; were
tired of his expenses ; mistrusted Poitevin promises;
and were particularly displeased by the plan of cam-
paign, which required nothing but money from
England, and assigned to them the burden of support-
ing an expedition from which they could gain no
advantage. They therefore told the King in the
plainest language that his extortions we?e too great ;
that he had broken all the promises on the strength
IIO
Saint Louis
[ 1241 -
of which former subsidies had been granted ; and
had not only plundered them himself, but had
allowed the Pope's legates to follow and glean after
his reaping. They were surprised that he had under-
taken so hazardous a business without consulting
them. There was truce with France ; let him wait
tilfit expired, or till the French broke it ; then they
would be willing to offer him their advice. In break-
ing it wantonly, in attacking a great and powerful
kingdom, and supporting its rebels, he was acting
shamefully, to the peril of his soul and reputation
and fortune. Finally they flatly refused to give any
subsidy.
Henry, however, was obstinately set on the enter-
prise, and swore in anger that, come what might, he
would cross the sea at Easter. He dealt with his
reluctant subjects, calling them into his presence one
by one ; and by the various arts of cajolery, menace,
or exhortation, as seemed most suitable to each case,
and by holding up the example of others, induced
many to contribute privately the aid which collect-
ively they had refused. By this means, though
some stood firm, he gathered considerable sums of
money, and was able to sail from Portsmouth in the
middle of May, with his brother Richard and seven
other Earls, three hundred knights, and thirty casks
of silver coin. After touching at Finisterre for a
single day he landed at Royan, at the mouth of the
Garonne, where his mother met him ; he thence
went to Pons and was received by Reginald, lord of
the place, and by other barons of Saintonge.
Meanwhile the Count of La Marche and his party
1243 ]
The English War
in
were already in arms in Poitou ; nor had the French
King been slow to take his measures. In the early
spring he sent eighty armed galleys to guard La
Rochelle against attack from the sea, and summoned
the levy of his vassals and of the towns to a rendez-
vous at Chinon. A force assembled in April of four
thousand men-at-arms fully appointed, with twenty
thousand slingers and footmen, and a baggage train
of two thousand wagons. At the head of this army
the King marched into Poitou, his numbers increasing
as he went by streams* of men arriving from eve^y
side.
The strategy of the rebels was to hold castles and
strong places, without venturing a pitched battle in
the open, to which their strength was unequal until
the whole force of their confederacy could be brought
to bear. To this purpose they carefully strength-
ened all their fortifications, barricaded and obstructed
the passes and the roads, dug up the grass and
the growing crops, cut down the vines, ruined the
buildings, destroyed all food which they could not
carry in, and choked, polluted, or poisoned the wells
and streams, that the enemy might find nothing
but an inhospitable and dangerous desert outside
the walls of the towns and fortresses. ,
These measures had a success later, in the sick-
ness and want which overtook the French army, but
did not hinder its first operations, so well , was it
provisioned with all kinds of supplies. Monstreuil
and the tower of Blruge were taken by storm.
Montcontour fell and Fontenay le Comte. Vouvent
and Mervent surrendered on terms, and Geoffrey
1 1 2
Saint Louis
[ 1241 -
their master, a cadet of Lusignan, made his peace,
forsaking his kinsman and feudal lord. Louis then
laid siege to Fontenay 1’Abattu, Hugh’s strongest
castle, standing on the ridge of Saintonge, thought
impregnable, and held by the bastard of La Marche,
a famous soldier, with a numerous and faithful gar-
rison. The attack was pressed day and night with
all the resources known to military art ; engines of
war battered the place with stones, and archers shot
a hail of arrows at anything that showed from behind
th,e battlements : while constant assaults kept the de-
fenders at full strain and quickly wore down their
strength and endurance.
As the siege was proceeding an embassy came to
the camp from the King of England, who had not
hitherto declared his intentions openly, but had writ-
ten complaining of various matters as infractions of
the truce, in order to build up a better pretext for
breaking it himself. At the same time he hoped
that the French army would exhaust its strength in
long sieges, while his own increased. Their rapid
and unexpected successes made it necessary to act
before all the strongholds of his ally were lost. His
envoys represented that their master was pained and
surprised by the conduct of the King of France,
which violated, he declared, the truce between them.
According to the narrative of the English historian,
Louis answered mildly, protesting that he had not
broken the truce, and was so far from wishing to do
so that he desired to prolong rt for three years. He
was also prepared to make large concessions, in order
to settle the English claim on Poitou and Normandy,
12433
The English War
113
which his father had recognised in the treaty of
London. But he must be left to deal with his own
rebels and traitors without interference. The Counts
of La Marche and Toulouse were his subjects, not
England’s ; the truce did not include them, nor
should it shelter them from the punishment of their
revolt. In sustaining them Henry himself was neg-
lecting his solemn obligation towards France, as well
as the close bond of relationship which united the
two royal families.
Louis was led to offer these concessions, the histo-
rian continues, partly through fear lest the coalition
should be too strong for him, if the Poitevins and
English were aided by Aragon and Castile and Tou-
louse, and possibly by a rising in Normandy ; but
chiefly through respect for the oath which his father
was said to have sworn to restore his rights to the
English King. Be that as it may, the offer was
rejected. Henry could hardly desert his allies at
this stage, and hoped moreover to gain more by
their help than was now conceded. He sent a formal
defiance and declaration of war, alleging for cause
the attack on his father, as he called him, the Count
of La Marche ; a reason which left the French King
in the right, according to the opinion of the time,
since the Count was clearly in unprovoked rebellion
against'his sovereign.
Nevertheless Louis was troubled at first with
doubt; but being reassured by his counsellors that
his father’s oath was 'no longer binding, since the
English had themselves broken the treat/ of London
in several particulars, he became easy in mind, and
Saint Louis
[ 1241 -
114
pressed the siege with double vigour. At the same
time the oriflamme o f France was unfurled, as
against a foreign enemy, and the general levy of the
kingdom summoned to war. Fontenay V Abattu was
carried in fifteen days; the captain and part of the
garrison were taken alive. The King refused to
hang them for their stubborn defence, though urged
by many to make this example. But the capture of the
place spread a panic terror through the neighbouring
country. No more resistance was attempted: as
the royal army approached, the magistrates and sen-
eschals of towns and castles came out with the keys,
and begged for terms. The strongest places were
garrisoned for the King; other fortifications were
razed. , A;
The Count of La Marche saw his plans and power
falling to pieces ; now, beginning to repent his rash-
ness, he joined his forces to the English. After ad-
vancing to Tonnay they retreated and lay in the
meadows on the banks of the Charente, opposite the
town of Taillebourg, sixteen hundred horse and
twenty thousand foot, with seven hundred crossbow-
men. The stream is deep and unfordable ; it was
spanned by a narrow stone bridge with a castle at
one end. As the French army occupied the town,
^ jy which welcomed their entry, the English
1242 marc ^ e d down to the river to dispute the
passage, and sent five hundred men to hold
the bridge. The movement was made by night ;
in the morning, which was 'Sunday, the 20th of
July, they Saw on the other side the royal stand-
ard of France, a host of pavilions with banners
1243 ]
The English War
”5
flying, and tents like a great and populous city.
When it was plain that he was far outnumbered,
Henry turned on the Count of La Marche with re-
proaches: “ Where is your promise which you made
in your letters, assuring us you would raise a great
enough army to meet the King of France without
fear, and that we need only take care to pro-
vide money ? ” “I never did,” replied the Count.
Richard of Cornwall joined in: “ Yes, for I have
with me here your letter to that effect.” “ I never
wrote or signed such ajetter,” said Hugh. “ What/'
said the King, “ what are you saying ? Have you
not often sent and begged me by letter and message
to come here, and blamed me for delay? Where is
your promise? ” “ I never did this,” Hugh declared,
with a horrible oath. “ Blame your mother, my
wife.” And he added, swearing and growling, u By
God’s throat ! it is she who has wrought this busi-
ness without my knowledge.”
While this family quarrel was proceeding, the
enemy were assaulting the bridge and making the
passage in boats. Louis was in the front of the at-
tack, and in great danger for a time, having advanced
so quickly with a few followers that he found twenty
to one against him. But reinforcements were soon
pushed up, and the bridge was won. The whole
French army was preparing to cross, and it seemed
that the English King must be taken or killed. In
the emergency, Richard of Cornwall, doffing his arm-
our and taking a stick in his hand, went forward to
ask an armistice. He was allowed to cross the bridge
and make his way to the King, who had returned
Saint Louis
[ 1241 -
1X6
to his tent. The French made him welcome, for
they held him in high esteem because of the part he
had taken in liberating their captives in Palestine ; on
this account, and because it was Sunday, one day’s
truce was granted. “ Lord Earl, lord Earl,” Louis
said to him, as he was leaving, “ I have given you
this truce of a day and a night that you may take
more wholesome counsel what to do ; for night is
the mother of counsel.” “ It was for that purpose
I sought the truce,” Richard replied. Returning to
hi^ brother, he pressed on hiip the necessity of im-
mediate retreat. Henry needed little persuading;
they fed hastily, gathered their baggage, and as
soon as night fell rode off, not sparing spurs, fol-
lowed by their whole army in trouble and confusion,
and for the most part fasting. Henry did not draw
bridle till he reached Saintes.
The French crossed the river the same night and
followed towards Saintes on Tuesday. As a party
of foragers plundered in advance they were fiercely
attacked by the Count of La Marche, who rode out
against them with his sons and a body of men, tell-
ing no one, being stung by his step-son’s reproaches,
and wishing to repair his fame At first the foragers
were driven in, then reinforced. The shouting and
noise of battle reached both armies; both pushed
forward to aid, and soon a general engagement was
set up in the vineyards and narrow lanes around
Saintes. The English fought well, Simon Montfort
of Leicester, William Longsword of Salisbury, and
Roger Bigod of Norfolk, showing especial valour ;
hut numbers forced them back with a loss of many
12431 The English War 117
dead and prisoners. Some of the French in the
ardour of fighting followed the retreating enemy
into the town itself and were captured,
Louis drew off his forces, not venturing to attempt
Saintes by storm ; but the victory was conclusive in
his favour, and turned the balance of all who
wavered. Its first effect was seen in overtures from
the Count of La Marche, who had been much dis-
couraged by the loss of his fortresses, and since the
retreat from Taillebourg got no comfort from Henry,
but black looks and , blame for all the disasters^of
the campaign. If the English returned home he
would be left at the King’s mercy, and prudence bade
anticipate the possible desertion. He sent a mes-
sage to his old friend, Peter of Brittany, who was
marshal of the French army, begging him and the
Bishop of Saintes to invoke the royal clemency and
forgiveness for a repentant rebel. Peter accepted
the mission, pleased, no doubt, to see another reduced
to the same submission as himself. Openly, he said
to the King that the war was being stifled by its
contriver ; that mercy might properly be shown to a
liegeman who had gone astray, but who was now
sufficiently punished by misfortune, and desired
sincerely to return. Apart he hinted, with winks
and whispers, that the King could tighten the terms
as he pleased, when the Count was brought to his
knees. The Bishop, a more simple and honest medi-
ator, pleaded for amnesty on suitable conditions.
Louis was well disposed to listen ; and favourable
news of the negotiation being conveyed to Count
Hugh, he separated himself from the English, who
n8
Saint Louis
[ 1241 -
still remained at Saintes, intending to make it their
headquarters for a time.
As King Henry was sitting down to meat, having
returned from an expedition to Pons, just a week
after the battle, a French knight came in at breath-
less speed, one whom Richard had ransomed from
the Saracens, to tell his preserver that the King of
France was about to surround Saintes, meaning to
blockade it with all the force of his kingdom, and to
capture the whole English army. He added that
th£ Count of La Marche had made his peace, and
that all Poitou would follow his example. He had
scarcely finished when another messenger came from
the Count’s sons, saying that the townspeople had
intelligence with the enemy, and that if the English
lay there that night they would be taken, or at any
rate closely beleaguered. Henry hurried from the
table, mounted a swift horse, and ordering the town
to be set on fire rode at full speed, not caring who
followed, to Blaye-on-Garonne, fourteen leagues off.
The rest, as they heard the news, streamed after
him as fast as they could, a disorderly, miserable
rout of men and horses and baggage, so confused
with panic that they rushed forward blindly, not
stopping to rest or eat on the way, except for the
fruits and berries they plucked from the roadside.
Their track was marked by dead horses, exhausted
men, and abandoned waggons. The King himself
lost on the road ail the furniture and ornaments of
his chapel, as well as the relics r which he carried with
him ; for he was very devout. He reached Blaye,
having gone without food or sleep the best part of two
1243 ]
The English War
1 19
days and two nights ; but thought even that place
unsafe, and decided to retire to Bordeaux where
was his wife, who had just given birth to a daughter.
Louis entered Saintes, and was welcomed by the
citizens ; the same day he proceeded to Pons and
received the submission of Reginald. On the mor-
row the Count of La Marche came in with his wife
and three sons and approached the King with every
mark of contrition. Weeping and kneeling at his
feet they cried, “ Have pity on us, Sire ! pardon our
misdeeds, according to the greatness of your mercjj.”
It is related that Geoffrey of Rancon, a lord greatly
wronged by the Count, who had sworn an oath to
let his hair grow long like a woman till he was
avenged, when he saw the humiliation of so great
and proud a family, called for a barber, and had his
hair trimmed on the spot before them all.
The conditions of peace were sufficiently onerous,
though less so than those suggested by Peter of
Brittany. Hugh gave up for ever all his castles
which had been taken in Poitou, and three others
for three years ; he bound himself to serve the King
for three years with two hundred knights, at his
own charges, against the Count of Toulouse or any-
one else ; surrendered the yearly pension of five
thousand pounds, due under former treaties; did
homage to the King for Angouleme, and to Al-
phonso for Lusignan and La Marche. Otherwise he
was confirmed in his possessions, and received a
promise that no truce should be made with England
without consulting his interests. He w3s sent imme-
diately, along with the Count of Brittany, to attack
1 20
Saint Louis
11241 -
Raymond of Toulouse, who was thus prevented
from giving any aid to the English, though he vis-
ited Henry at Bordeaux, encouraged him to con-
tinue the war, and took from him a considerable
sum of money.
The rest of Poitou and the country up to the
Garonne, seeing that the English King had aban-
doned them as a sailor leaves a sinking ship, hastened
to submit. The defection was general, of barons
as well as towns, Montauban only with one or two
other places of little importance holding out. Louis
advanced to within a league of Blaye, intending to
march thither and even to Bordeaux, and to finish
the campaign by occupying all Guyenne. The en-
emy was in no condition to withstand him, and had lit-
tle chance of reinforcement from England, even had
the barons there favoured the undertaking : for a con-
voy of men and money, which the Archbishop of
York, who was Regent, despatched, was dispersed
and driven ashore by a tempest; and, in the preda-
tory naval war which followed, the ships of Rochelle
and Calais and the Breton and Norman coasts kept
the advantage over those of the Cinque Ports and
drove them into their harbours.
But obstacles of nature and of human character
checked the tide of conquest. The wasted coun-
try was no longer able to support the numerous
French army as it increased in multitude, exhausted
its original supplies, and marched farther from its
base. The polluted waters and the heats of August
bred disease"* among men and beasts enfeebled by
toil and hunger. The malady became epidemic.
t243] The English War 121
Eighty barons died, each of whom fought under his
own banner, and twenty thousand of the soldiery.
The King himself fell grievously ill. Remembering
his youth and delicate health, and that the sickness
of a southern campaign had carried off his father,
the prudent among his counsellors became anxious
to remove him to a more healthy climate, away from
the hardships of the field. Besides this, many great
lords did not desire to see the victory too complete,
or the English entirely driven out, considering their
dominion in France a, convenient counterpoise to the
royal power, and a refuge for themselves, if need
arose. Accordingly, from one motive or the other,
a strong party advocated a truce, which Henry con-
tinued to demand. It was granted in the . ^
end of August, and the army returned
northwards with all possible haste, leaving I2 4 2
garrisons in Poitou. The King reached Paris in
September and threw off his fever ; but 'the effects
remained to enfeeble his frame, as they did in many
others of the army.
Though thus prevented of its fruits, the issue of
the war was decided, and the danger of the coalition
altogether dispersed. Raymond of T oulouse was
barely able to hold liis ground in Languedoc against
the Counts of Brittany and La Marche assisted by
his many neighbouring enemies, who took the op-
portunity to pay off old grudges, and threatened to
revive the terrors of a holy war, an excuse for which
was given by a fresh 7 * outbreak against priests and
friars in some parts of his domain. The King of
Aragon, seeing Languedoc doubtful, and his way
122
Saint Louis
[ 1241 -
into France barred, made no movement, though pro-
fessing good will ; and the other hopes of the con-
federacy proved vainer still. Henry remained
inactive at Bordeaux. A piteous letter to the Em-
peror, dated in September, describes his misfortunes :
“The King of France broke the truce; we made
war on him. Hugh, Count of La Marche, and Regi-
nald of Pons betrayed us. Reginald of Pons bade
us farewell and, giving us a Judas kiss, went to do
the treachery he had planned. When, therefore, we
could not remain longer among that false and lying
people of Poitou without danger of our body, we
crossed into Gascony, where we have dealt with our
beloved kinsman, Raymond, Count of Toulouse, Mar-
quis of Provence, about the betterment of our state.
We might have many strong friends in Burgundy,
were it in the hands of another than the Duke.”
He had replenished his coffers by the levy of a
scutage in England, and emptied them on the needy
and boastful race of Gascons. He was a laughing-
stock to them and a reproach to his own followers.
The Earl of Winchester and some others refused to
stay, and asked a safe-conduct through France, which
Louis granted, saying that he gladly let them go in
the hope that they would never come back. Rich-
ard of Cornwall soon followed, with the Earl Marshal
and the Earl of Hereford, disgusted by Henry's
idleness and extravagance and entire subservience
to the self-interested counsels of foreign flatterers.
His treasures being spent, he ran into debt, pledging
his own credit and that of Simon of Montfort and
William Longsword, who stayed with him, though
1243]
The English War
123
chafing and neglected. Even the Gascons, by whom
he was governed, began to voice their contempt;
and tales of his folly spread to the French Court
and were repeated to the King as matter of con-
gratulation. “ Let be, let be,” said Louis. “ Do not
mock him. His prayers and almsgivings, shall de-
liver him from danger and reproach/'
At the end of the autumn the Count of Toulouse
submitted, using the mediation of the Queen-mother,
his cousin, who was always well-disposed towards
him. No more than, submission was required ; £pr
peace was the interest of the kingdom ; nor was it
desirable to devastate or embitter a province, the
succession of which was assured to the royal family.
Raymond gave pledges of good faith, and
met the King in January at Lorris, where a
treaty was made ratifying the provisions of 12 ^3
Meaux, the Count ceding the town of Narbonne and
several castles in addition. Later in the same year
he proceeded to Rome, and was reconciled to the
Apostolic See upon Louis's intercession, occupying
himself thereafter in an attempt to mediate between
the Church and the Emperor.
Henry wrote again to the Emperor in January,
lamenting this new desertion of his beloved kins-
man. Nevertheless he was determined, he said, to
stay in i Gascony in order to oppress his enemies and
reform his affairs. It would, however, have ^ ^
been desperate to renew the war against
France, abandoned by his allies : the truce 12 ^
was confirmed and defined in April, *to run for
five years from that date. The French retained
124
Saint Lotus
[ 1241 -
all they had conquered ; while Henry was obliged
to evacuate some places which he had retaken af-
ter their retreat by the help of his Gascons, and
to pay a thousand pounds yearly while the truce
lasted.
In spite of this conclusion, war continued on the
high seas some months longer, Peter of Brittany
having returned to his trade of a privateer, which
he followed to great profit against merchants trad-
ing between England and Gascony, until Louis by
aq;hreat of outlawry compelled him to desist. The
English King lingered at Bordeaux till October,
when at last he tore himself away from the im-
portunate affection which his purse rather than his
person had kindled in his southern subjects, and
landed safely at Portsmouth, loaded with debt to
the amount of three hundred and fifty thousand
marks. . ■ : L ■ v;.?
“ From this time,” a contemporary writer observes,
“the barons of France undertook nothing against
their anointed Lord, seeing that God was with
him.” The issue of the last rebellion, which itself
depended chiefly on external aid, and took the shape
of foreign rather than of civil war, crowned the
struggle of three reigns. The monarchy rose su-
perior over the magnates, and all the provinces of
France lay in the shadow of its prestige and au-
thority. The King was firmly established in his im-
mediate domain ; to which a considerable part of the
English possessions had been added, besides further
acquisitions." Other extensive territories were being
broken to the yoke under the government of princes
SEAL OF SAINT LOUIS.
12433
The English War
125
of the blood, and ripening towards union with the
central power. The great feudatories had been
weakened and taught to recognise a master. Brittany
was humbled; Toulouse all but annexed; Cham-
pagne dependent on the King’s good will. The
most formidable of all, the House of Plantagenet,
which once had seemed likely to swallow the whole
kingdom, was now definitely ranked as a foreign
power. It had been repulsed in the attempt to re-
gain its former footing, and held its remaining pos-
sessions in Guyenne % and Gascony on sufferance,
which made them a hostage rather than a menace
to France. A further measure was taken towards
breaking its influence in the second year of the
truce, when Louis enacted in Parliament at Paris
that all who held fiefs both in France and England
must resign either one or the other. Henry re-
taliated by depriving Normans and other French-
men of their English fiefs, without allowing them the
! choice ; which caused much complaint.
A strict hand was kept over Poitou after the set-
tlement. Hugh of La Marche, in particular, was
made sensible of the altered position of affairs; for
the turn of events had much damaged his reputation,
and let loose enemies acquired in prosperity ; while
the Count of Poitiers, like his brother Robert, was
hot-tempered towards the magnates, inclined to re-
sent their misconduct and disdain their claims of
privilege. A year after the truce a knight accused
Hugh of treason, an<f he was summoned to Paris to
answer before the King and the CounFof Poitiers.
The accuser met his denial by throwing down a
126
Saint Louis
[1241-12433
gauntlet and offering to prove his charge on the de-
fendant’s body in single combat. The right was al-
lowed by the custom of the age ; but public feeling
condemned its exercise by an inferior against a man
of advanced years and so high in rank. The Count’s
eldest son stepped forward, desiring to fight in his
father’s place; but Alphonso interfered, declaring
that Hugh himself should undergo the combat or be
adjudged guilty ; and it was so decided. The great
barons, touched in their pride and compassion by
tlqg abasement and danger of a leader of their order,
pleaded with the King to reverse this judgment,
urging the alienation of a powerful family, should
the Count fall, and a renewal of trouble in Poitou
from their anger and vengeance. Their arguments
were effective to save him, the accuser being induced
to withdraw his challenge. At the news of this
affair the Countess-Queen Isabel fled to the abbey of
Fontevraud for sanctuary, fearing that some attempt
might be made to punish her also, since many laid
the blame of the late rebellion at her door, and an
attempt on her part to poison the King was alleged
to have been detected during its course.
THE EMPEROR HENRY, LANDGRAVE OF
THURINGIA
CHAPTER VI
PRELIMINARIES OF THE CRUSADE
1243-1248 -
M EANWHILE the relations with the Empire
continued on a friendly footing. Whatever
promises Frederick may have made to the
confederates, he never gave them the least assist-
ance, and was so far from resenting the sharp terms
in which Louis had demanded the release of the
French bishops, that he wrote to him half a year
later to explain and justify his action in de- ^
vastating the neighbourhood of Rome, and *
to propose a marriage between Conrad his
son, King of the Romans, and the King’s sister Isa-
bel, desiring, as it seems, to substitute a tie with
France for the English connexion which had been
broken by the death of the Empress eighteen months
before. The negotiation, however, came to nothing.
The discords of Christendom still burned fiercely.
Pope Gregory IX. had died in August, 1241, worn
out by them, it was slid, and by grief at the Em-
peror’s successes ; in addition to this he vtets afflicted
by gravel, was debarred by the war from the baths
127
128 Saint Louis [1243-
of Viterbo, his usual cure, and was nearly a hundred
years old. His successor, Celestin IV., died also a
fortnight after election. A new choice was pre-
vented during nearly two years by dissensions and
private ambition among the seven cardinals, who
were all that were left except the two held in prison
by the Emperor. At last, pressed by Frederick,
vrfio had released his prisoners and hoped by their
means to obtain a nomination favourable to his
cause; by Louis, who exhorted them to proceed
bpldly, promising that he would defend the liberties
of the Church, and by the French prelates, who
threatened to name a Pope for themselves if Peter’s
chair were left vacant any longer, they gathered at
Anagni in June, 1243, and elected Sinnibald, Cardi-
nal of St. Lawrence, a Genoese of the family of
Fieschi, who took the style of Innocent, being the
fourth of that name.
This choice was a heavy blow to the Emperor ;
for the new Pope took up the quarrel of the Church
in a stubborn, single-minded temper, inflexible of
purpose and flinching from no extremity. His first
act was to renew the anathema pronounced by
Gregory. Negotiations for peace, in which the King
of France took great concern, were set on foot
through the Count of Toulouse and others, and
seemed at first to be leading to a settlement. But
neither party trusted the other, while the Pope de-
manded an absolute submission, which Frederick
was not brought low enough to endure. All ended
in fresh recriminations ; and Innocent prepared far-
reaching plans against his enemy, devising another
1248] Preliminaries of the Crusade
129
general Council for his condemnation. He created
ten cardinals to support and assist his labours, and
sent nuncios through Europe to raise money from the
Churches by all possible means of subsidy, gift, or
traffic. Finding Rome and Italy, from the neigh-
bourhood of the Imperial armies, too perilous a base
of action, he resolved to migrate beyond the Alps.
The design was well and secretly conceived to avoid
interception. Still keeping up the pretence of nego-
tiation, he came to Sutri ; then delivered his refusal
of the Emperor’s tegns ; and having heard, as h£
said, that an attempt to kidnap him was in view,
took horse suddenly by night and fled at breakneck
speed with two attendants to Civita Vecchia. By an
incredible chance, had it not been arranged, twenty-
three fighting galleys of the Genoese, his country-
men, commanded by the admiral of the State, were
there to meet him. He reached Genoa safely through
a storm. The Emperor dissembled his annoyance
under a jest: “The wicked flee when no man pur-
sueth,” he said when the news came ; but he felt
the stroke, and caused the approaches to Genoa to
be closely guarded, especially on the side of France.
Nevertheless, a few months afterwards, Innocent
reached Asti by a sudden march, escorted by the
Genoese, and made as if to winter there; but soon
starting again by stealth, and travelling night and
day over dangerous roads, eluded the Im- ^ ^
perial ambuscades, and passed through the ’ *
states of the Count of Savoy, his supporter, to
the city of Lyons, where he established himself about
the middle of December. The place was a fief of the
130
Saint Louis
11243 -
Empire, governed by its Archbishop, and from its
position moderately secure.
The Pope would have preferred a refuge in France.
In the autumn of the same year the Cistercian order
held its customary general chapter at Cisteaux. The
King had declared his purpose of attending, in order
to ask the prayers of the assembly ; he came with
his brothers and the Duke of Burgundy and the
Queen-mother, on whom the Pope had conferred the
unusual privilege of entering a house of monks. As
approached the monastery the five hundred ab-
bots of the order came, running to meet him, and
led the royal company into the chapter-house, where,
when they were ¥ seated, all fell on their knees round
the King, beseeching him with tears to defend the
father and shepherd of the Church against Satan’s
son, the Emperor, and to afford him shelter in the
kingdom, if necessity came. They did this comply-
ing with an epistle from Innocent. Louis, not to be
taken by surprise, answered kindly, but in guarded
terms, that he would defend the Church against the
Emperor, as far as he honourably could ; and would
receive the Pope, if such was the advice of his barons.
Papal envoys formally repeated the request before
the King in council, asking that the Holy Father
might be allowed to reside at Rheims, of which the
Archbishop was just dead. But the barons, not de-
siring to make France the nest of so troublesome
and expensive a visitor, in which he might hatch mis-
chief and devour their substance, refused with one
voice to consent. Innocent applied to England also
and to Aragon for an asylum, and was denied by
..
12483 Preliminaries of the Crusade 1 3 1
both ; though the English King was only stopped
from admitting him by the protests of his council.
His cause was unpopular through the extortions of
his agents, in F ranee not less than elsewhere, with
clergy as well as with laymen. It is related that a
priest of Paris, when the anathema against Frederick
was ordered to be published in the churches, cursed
with book and bell the party who was wrong in the
quarrel, saying that he could not tell whether it was
Pope or Emperor.
I 11 Advent Louis was attacked by a return of his
Poitevin sickness, which took the form of dysentery
added to a fierce fever. It seemed impossible
that he could long sustain the force of the
malady. Barons and prelates gathered round I2 44
his bed at Pontoise, and prayers and processions
were made in the churches of Paris. He called his
officers to him, thanked them for their services, and
exhorted them to obey God. Growing worse, he
lay for a long time unconscious, none knowing if
he still lived. A report of his imminent death ran
through the country and filled it with mourning; the
people thronged the churches with supplications
and offerings for his safety, calling him a just and
peaceful prince. The sacred relics were brought to
his bedside, and his mother, as she stood sobbing and
praying, laid the Cross and the Crown of Thorns on
his body, with a vow that if her son were restored
he should visit Christ’s Sepulchre and give thanks in
the land consecrated By his Redeemer’s blood. As
she and all around continued in prayer, the King,
groaning and moving his arms, awoke from the
132
Saint Louis
1243 -
trance, and spoke in a broken and hollow voice:
“ The Dayspring from on high hath visited me, and
hath lifted me up out of the shadow of death.”
When he was restored a little he called for the
Bishop of Paris, and bade him fix the cross of the
oversea passage on his shoulder. The Bishop be-
sought a little delay; and both Queens, overcome
with grief and remorse, fell on their knees, entreating
him not to take the irrevocable step till his strength
returned. But Louis insisted that he would neither
mt nor drink till he had received the cross ; the
Bishop affixed it, shedding tears. From that time,
though not at once out of danger, he returned
slowly to health. Blanche repented bitterly of her
rash vow, which had received so sudden effect, and
those who loved the King best shared her misgiv-
ings. But Louis himself showed nothing but joy at
the prospect of his pilgrimage.
News came soon which seemed to reveal God’s
hand in the matter. Through the quarrels of the
Sultans of Egypt and Damascus, and by alliance
with the latter, the Christians of the East had been
established in full possession of the Holy City.
The enjoyment was short ; to avenge himself and
annoy his enemies the Sultan of Egypt invited the
Khorasmians to invade Palestine. This warlike
horde of Turcoman adventurers was wandering on
the north-eastern confines of Syria, having been
driven from their original home by a reflux of Tar-
tar conquest : they readily accepted his pay and
promises, and entered the country, a vast host of
horsemen. The fortifications of Jerusalem had not
1248]
Preliminaries of the Crusade
133
been rebuilt since the time of Saladin, and the Christ-
ians determined to fly to th.e strong cities of the
coast. The greater part of the inhabitants started
on the march, men, women, and children, leaving a
few behind. Advanced parties of the Khorasmians
occupied the town without difficulty, and, disap-
pointed of their prey, conceived a plan to lure it
back: they hung out over the ruined walls Christian
banners and ensigns which they found in the place.
Some who had stayed in hiding among the hills re-
cognised the blazons, and believing that the invaders
had been repulsed sent swift messengers to recall
their countrymen, now half-way to Joppa. The
wiser heads, expecting a snare, continued the march ;
but the multitude could not be restrained from
rushing back to their homes. The Turcomans, who
had retired meanwhile, immediately surrounded the
city and entered it by assault, killing without re-
spect of age or sex. Some fled to the caves and
mountains, only to be butchered miserably by the
Moslem peasantry, nominally their allies. Out of
above seven thousand not three hundred escaped
death or slavery. The altars were destroyed and
the Holy Places defiled, which the Saracens had
always respected ; the * marble pillars stand- ^ ^
ing at the entrance of our Lord’s Sepulchre
were sent to adorn the tomb of Mahomet 12 44
at Medina. Since that unhappy day Jerusalem has
never been in the hands of the Christians.
£
The invaders advanced towards the sea, being
joined by an army from Egypt. They were en-
countered near Gaza, the 18th of October, 1244, by
134
Saint Louis
[ 1243 -'
the Christian forces with which were succours from the
Sultan of Damascus. The Saracen allies fled at the
first shock; but the Christians, who had been en-
raged to extremity by the savage excesses of the
Infidels, fought with desperate valour, were over-
whelmed by tenfold numbers, and almost annihil-
ated. Six hundred knights of the Orders were
engaged; thirty-three Templars, twenty-three Hos-
pitallers, and three Teutonic were all that escaped.
The Preceptor of the Teutonic Order, the Bishop of
Splint George, and many barons of Palestine ciied on
the field. The Archbishop of Tyre, the Grand
Masters of the Temple and the Hospital, were taken
alive. After this defeat, the remaining stiength of
the Christians was cooped closely in a few fortified
towns, expecting a siege every day. They could see
the roving Turcoman bands from the battlements of
Acre, where most were gathered, and whence they
wrote lamentable letters to the Western princes
relating the misfortunes of their state and appealing
for instant aid.
The tidings had not arrived except in rumour at
the time of the King’s sickness ; but some declared
that he had seen in his trance a vision of the slaugh-
ter at Gaza. It is not affirmed, however, by any
trustworthy authority that Louis ever spoke of this,
and the tale m-ay be imputed to the imagination of
an age greedy of coincidence and miracle. But it is
not doubtful that he afterwards believed his vow tc
. I'V
have been divinely inspired for the restoration of the
Christian fortunes in their hour of greatest need.
This conviction sustained him against the many
Preliminaries of the Crusade
discouragements which surrounded the inception of
his undertaking. By this time, the fever of the cross
was beginning to weaken in men's blood. Reason-
ing on the subject fought with zeal, and self-inter-
est sapped devotion, though habit and prejudice
remained powerful allies. The King’s path was
beset by obstacles of policy, which his counsellors
had more prudence to observe and exaggerate than
enthusiasm to override. And the same arguments
which did not deter him were effective to drag back
others, so that the -greater share of burden
labour fell on his shoulders. This was so in the
kingdom ; and there was no more eagerness outside.
The King of England, though pious, said that he
had too many enemies to take the cross. The Em-
peror professed good will and a desire to help, but
* gave little besides. The Pope blessed the enterprise,
but with mind and heart running on his own af-
fairs, and valued one soldier or one bezant brought
against the Emperor more than ten spent in com-
bating the Infidel.
In January, 1245, Innocent sent out circular let-
ters of summons to a general Council, naming three
subjects to be treated ; the troubles of the East, the
danger from the Tartars, and the dispute of the
Church with Frederick, mentioning last the true
cause of assembly. The Council met at Lyons in
June; the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch,
and Aquileia attended, and a hundred and forty-
four prelates, few from Germany ; also the Emperor
Baldwin, the Counts of Toulouse and Provence, and
proctors from the Kings of France and England,
136
Saint Louis
[ 1243 -
Thaddeus of Suessa, a scholar, statesman and soldier
of high repute, appeared on the part of the Em-
peror. He defended his master eloquently and
well; but the Pope had the Council well in hand,
and would listen to no excuse or suggestion of com-
promise. A flood of invective was poured on Fred-
erick’s private and public character, and a fortnight
given for him to appear in person and answer the
charges ; but this was done with reluctance and at the
pressing instance of the French and English proctors.
TSe refused to come; and Thaddeus, seeing how
strongly the current ran, entered a formal protest,
appealing to a future Pope and a more general Coun-
cil. Judgment and doom followed: Frederick’s
crimes were recited at length, his subjects absolved
from their obedience, the Empire declared vacant,
and the kingdom of Sicily put at the Pope’s
disposal. The unqualified terms of the sen-
tence, as it was read in full Council, filled all
with amazement and trembling; the Imperial envoys
withdrew, prophesying sorrow and disaster ; and the
ambassadors of secular princes heard with uneasi-
ness the absolute power to bind and to loose, to
pull down and set up, which was claimed by the
Apostolic See. ■ The same day the Pope and all the
Cardinals and Bishops cursed the Emperor solemnly
in the church of St. James, reversing and extin-
guishing their tapers as a symbol of his end.
The work of the Council was done with the con-
demnation ; but, before separating, letters were is-
sued against the Tartars, regulations drawn up for
the propagation and government of the crusade, and
A.D.
1245
1248] Preliminaries of the Crusade 137
decrees made about ecclesiastical lawsuits and the
nature and use of excommunication and other mat-
ters concerning the Church.
When Frederick heard what had happened, he fell
into ungovernable rage, and calling for the coffer
containing his crowns set one on his head, ajid
swore he would not yield it to Pope or Council with-
out a bloody struggle. Afterwards he wrote circular
letters denying the Council’s authority and title to
be called general, and inveighing against the aggres-
sions and extortions of Rome. To the French
promised that, if peace were made, he or Conrad his
son would make the passage, with the King or in his
stead ; if not, he would still give the crusaders all
help by land and sea, with ships and supplies, as far
as his business and occasions allowed. He reiterated
the common danger of m anarchs from the ambitious
pretensions of the Apostolic See, which none could
expect to withstand, were it inflated with the tri-
umph and prestige of the Emperor’s overthrow.
The argument commended itself to secular jealousy ;
nevertheless his cause received much damage from
the judgment of the Council, which seemed to mark
him formally as enemy of the whole Church, con-
demned on account of spiritual, no less than of
temporal errors.
The King held a Parliament at Paris in October on
the subject of his crusade. He had requested a
special Legate from the Pope, who commis- ^ ^
sioned Odo of Chateau-Roux, Cardinal of * *
Tusculum, an upright and prudent priest ;
moved by his exhortations and the King’s on this
Saint Louis
[ 1423 -
occasion many great persons took the cross : Robert
of Artois, Peter of Brittany and his son John, Hugh
of La Marche, the Dukes of Burgundy and Brabant,
the Counts of Saint Paul, Bar, and Dreux, Raoul of
Coney, and, among prelates, the Archbishops of
RJaeims, Sens, and Bourges, the Bishops of Beauvais,
Laon, and Orleans. Meanwhile, as his voyage must
be delayed by the necessity for long preparation,
Louis joined with Templars and Hospitallers to send
money and men to the succour of Palestine. It was
Ordained in the Parliament that a truce of five years
should be imposed on private wars throughout the
realm, lest the crusade might be hindered ; and that
all who took the vow should be given three years'
respite from their debts ; an enactment much com-
plained of and cast up against the King by the
moneyed class of citizens, who held mortgages on
many noble and knightly fiefs.
At the end of November, Louis met the Pope at
Cluny, having invited him thither to a conference.
So spacious was the abbey that it afforded lodging
at this time to the King, his mother, brother, and
sister, to the Emperor of the East, the Princes of
Aragon and Castile, the Duke of Burgundy and a
numerous train of barons, as well as to the Pope, two
Patriarchs, and twelve Cardinals, without disturbing
the monks from their usual dwelling. Louis and
Blanche conferred with Innocent for seven days in
secret, no other person being present. The crusade
and the reconciliation of the Emperor were conject-
ured to be the subject of their deliberation. No
result appeared but the arrangement of a further
1248 ] Preliminaries of the Crusade
conference in the following year, in which it was
hoped that Frederick would take part.
From Cluny the King visited his lately acquired
county of Macon, and returned to Paris for Christ,
mas. He was accustomed to give cloaks to the
knights of his household at this season, and it, is
related that he secretly caused a cross to be embroid-
ered in gold on each garment. The household, being
summoned as usual to rise before dawn and attend
the King to mass, put on their new cloaks in the
dark. When it grew light, and they saw the cross oef
one another’s shoulders, at first they were filled with
wonder and mirth, then understood tire pious trick.
Touched with love and devotion they were ashamed
to lay the cross aside, and regarding the King, says
the chronicler, with mingled laughter and tears, called
him a hunter of pilgrims and a new fisher of men.
The House of France received in this year a further
addition of fortune. Raymond Berenger, dying in Au-
gust, bequeathed his domains to his remain- ^ ^
ing daughter, Beatrix; the third, Sanchia, * *
had been married to Richard of Cornwall x2 45
two years before. A crop of suitors sprang up for
the hand of the heiress, who had beauty as well as
Provence for her dower. The Count of Toulouse
was negotiating the marriage for himself ; the King
of Aragon sought it for his son ; both entered the
countiy and threatened it with then* forces. Mean-
while a bolder wooer of humbler rank carried off the
lady and held her prisoner in his castle. Her uncles,
Boniface, Archbishop of Canterbury, *and Philip,
Bishop of Valence, who, according to the scandalous
Saint Lotiis
[ 1243 -
I4O
custom of their family, joined to great ecclesiastical
preferment the habits and life of soldiers of fortune,
cut down their woods, taxed their clergy, hired mer-
cenaries, and came to defend their niece. They were
helped by their elder brother, the Count of Savoy.
The King of France, on leaving Cluny, sent five hun-
dred knights from his escort for the same purpose.
The Countess dowager and the Regents of Provence
desired to marry Beatrix to Charles, youngest brother
of Louis ; for they had a great respect for the King,
®&nd were better satisfied with him than with the
English husbands of her sisters. The ravisher was
attacked in his stronghold and forced to yield his
prize. Toulouse and Aragon withdrew in fear of
France. Charles travelled to Provence with a splen-
did escort, and espoused the young Countess in
midwinter; then, returning to France with his bride,
was made a knight and received his appanage of
Anjou and Maine the next summer.
In January, 1246, the King, on account of his im-
pending voyage, sought a prolongation of the truce
with England, which had. two more years to run.
He is reported to have made secret proposals for its
conversion into a regular treaty of peace, offering to
surrender his conquests in Aquitaine in return for a
final abdication of the claim onNormandy. Henry put
these overtures aside, reluctant to renounce his inheri-
ft ■ - ,
tance, and trusting to the chances of the future ; but he
was willing, he said, to extend the truce for the sake of
the crusade, if he were given four castles in Provence,
which he claimed in right of his wife. The negotiation
stuck on this proviso, and nothing was concluded.
12483 Preliminaries of the Crusade 141
The same month a dispute which had grievously
embroiled the northern borders of France was referred
to the arbitration of Louis and the Legate Odo.
Joan, Countess of Flanders and Hainault, dying
childless in 1244, was succeeded by her sister Mar-
garet. This unfortunate princess had been wedded
in her youth to Bouchard of Avesnes, a notable
soldier, and had by him two sons, John and Bald-
win. But Bouchard had been once in religious
orders, and had deserted them for arms. This be-
coming known, the P.ope declared the marriage nulL'
and void, and the censures of the Church compelled
a separation. Some years afterwards, Margaret mar-
ried William of Dampierre and had three sons,
William, Guy, and John. By this time both families
were grown up; and the sons of the former bed,
supported by their relations, the Counts of Holland
and Saint Paul, contested the inheritance of Flanders
and Hainault with the family of Dampierre, By
strict rule the eldest son of one or the other marriage
should have reaped the whole succession ; but the
arbitrators, with consent of the parties, awarded a
division : Flanders to William of Dampierre, and
Hainault to John of Avesnes. The quarrel settled
by this compromise broke out again, as will be re-
lated, to disturb the peace in the King’s absence,
and was composed a second time by his authority.
In the spring Louis and the Pope had ^ ^
another meeting at Cluny. Innocent was * l
high in fortune ; he Vas just bringing the
Archbishops of the Rhine and other Gefman princes
to elect a new King of the Romans, the Landgrave
142
Saint Louis
Cl 24 V-
Henry of Thuringia, the last descendant of Charle-
magne in right line, who might, he hoped, enforce the
sentence of deposition and dispossess Frederick of the ..
Empire. Moreover his treasury had been filled by
the diligence and severity of his travelling legates.
Men said that no Pope since Saint Peter had been so
rich. He was no more disposed, therefore, by circum-
stances than he was by character to abate one jot
from his pretensions ; while the Emperor, on the same
considerations, was inclined to go far in concession,
«*8feand in requesting the King’s mediation promised to
spend the rest of his life reconquering Palestine, pro-
vided his son might be allowed to succeed him in
the Empire, and both be fully absolved by the Church.
Innocent rejected the proposal scornfully, saying
that Frederick had made many such promises and
broken them all, and was not to be dealt with ex-
cept on complete submission. Louis urged accept-
ance, or at least negotiation. He pointed out that,
next to God, the Emperor had most power to help
or hamper the crusade and the general cause of
Christendom, from his mastery of the seas and har-
bours and islands, and his acquaintance and influence
in the East. But the Pope was proud and obdurate ;
and the King took his leave, says the chronicler, in-
‘dignant to have found so little of the humility he
hoped in the servant of the servants of God. .
I~Ie continued, however, his endeavours after
£ peace, sending the Bishop of Senlis and the
* / Warden of Bayeux to Lyons with further
proposals. Innocent’s answer, dated in No-
vember, shewed no desire for compromise. He had
12481 Preliminaries of the Crusade 143
sought peace, he said, before the Council of Lyons,
but in vain, and had little hope that it could now be
obtained. Nevertheless, the Church’s bosom was
never closed against a returning prodigal ; the Vicar
of Christ, like his Master, did not desire the death of
a sinner, but rather that he should repent and liye,
and would receive the Emperor if he came back into
the fold ; and, out of special regard for the person of
his intercessor, would deal with him as gently as
might be without sin against God and the honour of
the Church. ,
His stiff, unrelenting attitude, which Frederick
did not fail to heighten and to reproach, alienated
many minds from the Apostolic See, particularly on
account of the injury which it seemed to offer to the
Christian cause in the East. The Egyptian Sultan
had a great respect for the Emperor, who had made
a treaty with his father, and refused this year to
listen to overtures of truce put forward by the Pope
and the Templars, unless they gained his support;
but they scouted the notion, and reviled Frederick
for his friendship with Infidels. Innocent had no
intention of allowing the recovery of Jerusalem to
interfere with his designs. While he commanded
the Frisians, who had taken vows, to hold themselves
ready to join the King of France in his ^ ^
passage, he sent secret despatches to his * V
Legates to suspend the preaching of the
crusade in Germany, lest it should interfere with
the holy war which he v had ordered to be proclaimed
against the Emperor. r
The ill success of his mediation did not discour-
[ 1243 -
144 Saint Louis
age the King from pushing forward the preparation
of his voyage. He began to accumulate all kinds of
stores and supplies in Cyprus. The Emperor aided,
writing in November to his justiciaries and
* * chamberlains in the kingdom of Sicily, to let
^ horses, arms, and provisions be bought and
exported freely by those acting on the French King’s
behalf. Louis also improved and fortified Aigues
Mortes, the only Mediterranean port in his own
dominions. The walls remain to-day, but the place
ws several miles inland, the f harbour having been
choked by sand in the course of time. He levied a
tithe on the revenues of the clergy by leave of the
Pope. The towns also paid large contributions,
Paris alone furnishing ten thousand pounds.
By custom and papal decree those who assumed
the cross were received into the protection of the
Church. Some were always found to abuse this ad-
vantage, committing crimes of violence and robbery,
and evading civil justice under shelter of their tem-
porarily sacred character. Louis sought and ob-
tained the withdrawal of the privilege from those
convicted of such offences.
The necessities or the avarice of the Roman court
had long opened a bottomless gulf, into which was
poured the tribute of many kingdoms, and of France
not least. Every device of mediaeval taxation was
practised to drain the treasures of the Gallican
Church into papal coffers. To a regular impost on
ecclesiastical revenues, and t<f aids and subsidies and
forfeits levied on every possible occasion, were added
the profits of transactions which bore the appearance
12481 Preliminaries of the Crusade
*45
of simony. For example, before the Council of
Lyons, Odo, Abbot of Saint Denis, procured a nom-
ination from the Pope to the archbishopric of
Rouen by a gift of several thousand pounds which he
wrung from his abbey. The King, however, upon
hearing of it, forced him to repay the money. *
About the same time Louis and his barons, as-
sembled in council, despatched to the Pope a
long and reasoned remonstrance against his
exactions. It is new, they say, and unheard
of in previous times th*at the Roman See should levy
for all its needs on the temporalities of the French
clergy. Preaching friars are sent through the realm,
extorting money from bishops and high abbots with
threats of excommunication, so that the successors
of the Apostles are taxed like serfs or Jews. The
evil has increased since Innocent’s arrival at Lyons.
His emissaries have become open and shameless in
their demands, which hitherto had been covered with
a decent veil of secrecy. Pie has given away to his
foreign nominees a host of benefices, even those not
yet vacant, contrary to usage and to the canons.
The bishops can no longer provide for the learned
and honest clergy of their dioceses ; and prejudice is
done to the King and his nobles, whose relations
and friends were accustomed to have preferment in
the Church. Strangers and Italians are appointed,
who do not reside, but withdraw their revenue out
of the realm; thus avoiding the intention of pious
founders, who designed their benefaction.^ to support
the ministry of God in their native place, and the
residue, if any, to be given to the poor; or, if need
146
Saint Louis
[ 1243 -
were, to the King’s defence. A new grievance has
been added lately in the Pope’s order to the clergy
to supply him with soldiers against his persecutor,
who is coming, he says, to attack him. Let him
remember the counsel of the Gospel — “If they
persecute you in one city, flee into another.” The
King’s ancestors founded and endowed the churches
of France ; and their temporal possessions are sub-
ject to him alone. He will never, while he lives,
allow the Church to be yoked with injury, impover-
ishment, and servitude, through which it is made
unable to perform the service of God, and to ful-
fil the obligations it owes to himself and others :
nor the kingdom to be despoiled by the draining
of revenues, which, in the last resort, belong to it,
and from which the expense of the crusade must
in large measure be furnished. “ The King loves
you sincerely, as you know,” the despatch concludes,
“ and is compassionate to your necessity ; but he
must guard the liberties and customs entrusted to
his keeping. He prays you therefore, his very dear
father in Christ, for God’s honour and your own,
for the removal of scandal, for preserving the de-
votion of France and its Church, and for the love
you bear him, to abstain hereafter from such op-
pressions, which cannot be borne, and to undo the
wrong which already has been done; for many have
been suspended or excommunicated on account of
these matters.” *
The appeal had no effect. The Pope insisted on
levying a twentieth on the clergy, nominally for
the succour of Palestine, at the same time that he
1248] Preliminaries of the Crusade 147
authorised a tenth to be taken by the King; he
also demanded a further subsidy for war in Germany
against the Emperor. The clergy, squeezed so hard,
became grasping in turn, and pressed every ecclesi-
astical claim and privilege and exemption, replenish-
ing themselves at the expense of their neighbours
and suzerains and vassals. The patience of France
was exhausted. Magnates and barons assembled in
November of 1246 to take measures for remedy of
the evil. They made and sealed a bond of agree-
ment : that they and their heirs would aid one
another, and their vassals, and all who joined them,
to pursue and defend their right against clerics ; that
the Duke of Burgundy, Count Peter of Brittany, the
Count of Angouleme,'* and the Count of Saint Paul
should be a board to receive complaints and decide
what to do to assist in each case ; that every baron
should contribute for the purposes of the association
the hundredth part of his revenues year by year, to be
delivered as the four delegates, or any two of them,
should direct.
They also published a manifesto, dwelling in bitter
terms on the avarice and arrogance of the Church,
and declaring that they would curtail by sharp punish-
ment and forfeiture the abuses and encroachment of
ecclesiastical jurisdiction ; and would reduce the
clergy, who had grown fat on the spoils of laymen,
to primitive poverty ; in which wholesome and holy
state they might 1 iv£ and meditate and display
miracles, now so long ceased, for the benefit and sal-
vation of the working part of the world. The latter
* He was eldest son of Hugh, Count of La Marche.
148
Saint Louis
[ 1243 -
phrases of their proclamation were thought to reveal
the hand of the Emperor ; for he had often held
the same language. But resentment of like griev-
ances may have vented itself without collusion in a
similar strain.
The Pope received the news with surprise and
anger, having little expected the open revolt of a de-
vout and generous nation. His first impulse was
to threaten and thunder. He wrote passionately to
the French prelates assembled at Paris in the
beginning of next year, exhorting them to
I2 ^ show a bold front against the barons, who
were perverted from the piety of their ancestors to
become persecutors and enslavers of the Church.
He paraded the bull of Honorius, and ordered the
Legate to excommunicate all the members of the
league, and all who joined or aided or abetted them,
or contributed money, or took part in carrying out
their judgments.
His message was coldly received ; for the prelates
and native clergy of France, no less than the barons,
felt a great part of the oppressions and evils alleged,
being themselves sufferers in the first place, while the
. sole benefit was reaped by the papal court and its
creatures and emissaries, mostly Italian monks.
Deputies from the episcopal order, the chapters, and
the body of inferior clergy, accompanied by a royal
envoy, waited upon Innocent in May, only to form-
ulate a list of grievances imposed upon France by the
Apostolic See : Firstly, the usurpation of judgments.
Secondly, the authority given to Templars and Hospi-
tallers and other unattached monks dependent on
1248J
Preliminaries of the Crusade 149
Rome, who wandered through the kingdom, suspend-
ing priests and even the higher clergy, and laying
excommunication and interdict on both cleric and
lay. Thirdly, the benefices and pensions bestowed
out of the French Church on Italians and other
strangers. Fourthly and fifthly, the intolerable sub-
sidies levied in the name of assistance to the Latin
Empire and the Roman Church. Sixthly, the com-
missioning of private legates and nuncios to exact
money throughout the realm.
Innocent answered, denying or lessening some
grievances and promising redress of others ; but
did not satisfy the deputies, who went away angry.
He had then to receive the envoys of the barons’
league, a prospect which gave him no pleasure.
For their tone was high and unsubmissive; and the
King himself had adhered to them openly and affixed
his seal to their bond, and gave earnest of his policy
by forbidding the French prelates, on pain of forfeit-
ing their lands, to comply with the requisitions of a
fresh horde of Franciscan and Dominican friars which
the Pope had let loose.
Many Cardinals began to fear the heat and burden
of the day ; to suggest reconciliation with the
Emperor, and say that in deposing him the Council
had been too hasty and inconsiderate. Innocent
was subject to no such weak mood. But to fulminate
against France was idle. For the bolts of the Church,
though dreaded, were^ mostly of moral power, and
lost their force and effect unless the use was approved,
or at least tolerated, by the general conscience.
That being hostile, they were unequal weapons
Saint Louis
[ 1243 -
150
against forfeiture, imprisonment, and the other
means of coercion which belong to secular rulers.
He was compelled, therefore, to temporise ; to yield
in some particulars ; and to detach individuals from
the league by giving them benefices for their kins-
men and other favours. In this way the sore was
skinned over, but not healed ; it rankled under-
neath, and broke out from time* to time into fresh
inflammation.
Louis called a Parliament at Paris in mid-Lent to
settle the affairs of the kingdom, in which he declared
his resolution to start, within a year from the
. * ‘ coming Nativity of Saint John Baptist, un-
less hindered by some unforeseen and una-
voidable accident. He took a solemn public oath to
that effect, as did all the crusaders, and caused the
barons to swear fealty to his infant son, in case any
mishap should arrive. He named his mother to be
Regent and Governess of the realm during his ab-
sence.
A curious incident which happened during the
session of this Parliament has been related by an
eye-witness. Coming out of chapel one day, the
King found three corpses laid out on the steps of
the courtyard, and a prisoner guarded by men-at-
arms. Inquiring of the Provost of Paris what was
the matter, he was told that the dead men were
three of his sergeants, who used to rob people in
unfrequented streets. Last night they attacked and
stripped a clerk, who was . the prisoner. He ran to
his lodgings, fetched his crossbow and sword, over-
took the robbers, and, bidding them stand, shot one
THE PALACE AND THE SA1NTE CHAPELLE IN PARIS IN THE SIXTEENTH-CENTURY,
1248] Preliminaries of the Crusade 15 1
through the heart. The other two fled ; but the
clerk pursued and cut off the leg of one as he was
climbing through the hedge of a garden ; afterwards
he caught the other, just escaping into a strange
house, and split his head in two with a single blow
of his sword. Then, calling the neighbours to wit-
ness what he had done, he went to the King’s prison
and gave himself up. “ And I have brought him
here, Sire,” ended the Provost, “ that you may do
your will on him.” The King regarded the pris-
oner. “ Sir Clerk,” sg.id he, “ your prowess is wasted
in a priest. I will give you my wages, and you shall
come with me oversea.” Then turning to the by-
standers he added : “And by this I would have you
see that I wish my people to know that I will not
uphold them in any wickedness.” The crowd ap-
plauded with shouts, desiring the King’s long life
and safe return.
Later in the year, wishing to clear his conscience
of other matters before undertaking the holy war,
Louis ordered his bailiffs throughout the country to
proclaim by crier that if any man had been treated
unjustly by royal officers in the way of taxation or
requisition, he should make complaint and adduce
proof, when right would be done. He despatched
also a number of friars to all parts, to inquire if the
people anywhere suffered wrong from his seneschals
or others in authority, with a view to giving redress.
About the same time the Viscount of Beziers made
a treaty with the King, formally renouncing the ter-
ritories in Languedoc which, having be&n conquered
from his father, had passed to the Crown,
i5 2
Saint Louis
0243 -
Richard of Cornwall, visiting France, endeavoured
to profit by the occasion, urging that since restitu-
tion was offered to all, the lost provinces also should
be restored to England. The barons of the council
scoffed at the thought, answering, with especial refer-
ence to Normandy, that an undisturbed possession
of forty years could not be overridden by a claim
which had never, during that time, been enforced.
But Richard's arguments troubled Louis, until he
was satisfied by the Norman bishops that his right
was superior to that of the . English King, who
had been deprived by the regular judgment of his
peers.
Many English took vows this year, with the inten-
tion of accompanying the crusade ; among whom
were the Bishop of Worcester and William of Salis-
bury. Haco, King of Norway, also having put on
the cross, was invited by Louis to join his expedi-
tion, but declined, saying that his people would
certainly quarrel with the French, as both nations
were haughty and headstrong in temper. He con-
tented himself with obtaining letters from the King,
bidding the coasts of France assist his voyage, which
was never begun.
Meanwhile, as Pope and Emperor could not be
reconciled, Louis kept on friendly terms with both,
favouring each side in the maintenance of its posi-
^ p tion, but not in aggression upon the other.
He wrote to the Emperor in February on
the subject of his crusade. The style of the
despatch is significant ; for it seems to go beyond
the ordinary forms of compliment and honour, at a
12481 Preliminaries of the Crusade 153
time when the Pope was obstinate to insist on Fred-
erick's deposition, and refused to allow his royal or
imperial titles. It is prefaced, “ To his most excel-
lent and very dear friend, Frederick, by the grace
of God illustrious and ever august Emperor of the
Romans, King of Jerusalem and of Sicily, Louis,
by the same grace King of the French, greeting
and sincere love." The Emperor is thanked for
facilities given to draw supplies from his dominions,
and is assured that he need have no anxiety that the
rights of the kingdom of Jerusalem will not be
guarded in respect of any conquests made by the
Christians. It is promised that the privileges of ex-
port, which he has granted to the crusaders, shall
not be abused to furnish his enemies, if the King
can prevent it. As regards renewal of the treaty
between France and the Empire, the bearer of the
letter is entrusted with a secret verbal answer.
Shortly after this, Frederick, who had for long
been standing on his defence, found himself able to
resume the attack, the face of his fortunes having
been changed lor the better by a victory of Conrad
in Germany over Henry of Thuringia, who died im-
mediately afterwards. The Emperor emerged from
Southern Italy with a numerous army, declaring his
intention to march to Lyons, and, having justified
himself of the charges on which he had been con-
demned, to confer with his adherents in those parts
and return honourably into Germany. Innocent
and the Cardinals were filled with alarm, and hastened
to stir up trouble in Lombardy. Louis on his part,
assembling a strong force, prepared to go to Lyons,
154
Saint Louis
[ 1243 -
accompanied by the Queen-mother, to take share in
the meeting, lest the Holy Father should be over-
borne by violence and arms. But Frederick was
recalled from the foot of the mountains by the
revolt of Parma, which burst out behind him, fo-
mented by papal subsidies; and Innocent, who
desired to see neither King nor Emperor with an
army at their back, sent letters to Louis and Blanche,
effusive of commendation and thanks, and begging
them not to come until he summoned. Mean-
while he turned their good will to account by writ-
ing to his partisans that Louis had gathered a great
army in order to facilitate the election of a new king
of the Romans; for that was the chief object of pa-
pal policy at the moment. It was attained in the
^ ^ autumn, William, Count of Holland, being
elected- by the German princes, who contin-
ued to maintain the war against Conrad,
while Frederick strove with but moderate fortune to
crush the Lombard rebels.
As the time of the King’s passage approached, a
great fleet of ships was fitted and provisioned in the
harbour of Aigues Mortes. Two attempts were
made at the last to shake his purpose, — the first by
his mother and the aged Bishop of Paris, supported
by mhny barons. They represented the unquiet
state of Europe and the peril of the realm during his
absence. Blanche, who trembled lest her son’s en-
feebled health should fail beneath the voyage and
campaign, added entreaty to counsel, begging him,
by the love and obedience he owed her, at least not
to pass the seas himself, though he sent his forces.
1248}
Preliminaries of the Crusade
I 55
His vows were not binding, they urged; and the
Pope would give dispensation, for they were taken
in the height of fever, when he was not master of his
mind. Louis appeared to be moved : “You pretend
that I took the cross in delirium/' said he. “ Well,
then, I do as you wish: Lord Bishop, I return it, to
you,” and tore the sacred sign from his shoulder.
They began to congratulate themselves till he spoke
again. “ I am not delirious now at any rate. Give
me back my cross. God knows, food shall not enter
my mouth till I am marked with it anew.” All felt
that further argument was useless against such reso-
lution. “ It is the finger of God,” they said.
The other temptation came from the Pope, who
desired to keep a powerful protector at hand, in case
the Emperor’s arms should prevail too far. He
begged the King to defer his- voyage until it was
seen how God would deal with Frederick; adding
insidiously that he need not travel oversea to fight
for the Faith, since there were many heretics in
Italy. “ But he laboured in vain,” writes a monk of
his court, “ for he could not divert the King from
his desire of crossing.”
In the first half of the year Louis settled his
outstanding affairs, an example followed by ^
the other crusaders. He made large dona- * *
tions to religious houses in return for their ^
prayers: he also founded and endowed, jointly with
liis mother, a Cistercian nunnery at Melun
in the name of Our Lady of the Lily. On ^ 2 th
the Friday after Pentecost he received the
oriflamme of France and the pilgrim's staff and wallet
Saint Louis
£ 1243 -
156
from the hands of the Legate Odo, in the church of
Saint Denis, and thence returning to Notre Dame
heard mass; after which he left Paris, not with
military pomp, but barefooted, in pilgrim’s habit,
and came, accompanied by a vast multitude, to the
abbey of Saint Anthony outside the city. An eye-
witness, an Italian monk,, has described the scene.
The King, he says, was thin and haggard, rather
tall, with the face of an angel. He seemed more like
a monk than a soldier. Many of the French monks
wept, crowding to see him like women. He sat in
the dust on the ground, while his brothers looked
about for benches and stools.
After commending himself to the prayers of the
abbey, and taking leave of the people, who flocked
after him, he mounted horse and rode to Corbeil,
the first stage of his journey. There he formally
handed over to his mother the government of the
realm with all its powers and prerogatives. Blanche
accompanied him some further distance, and on
parting was agonised with grief, foreboding that
they would not meet again. “ I had rather
be cut in two,” she cried in her sorrow; “for you
have been the best son to me that ever mother
had.” , ■
The King proceeded through Burgundy to Lyons,
where he visited the Pope, whom he implored to
relax his severity towards Frederick, if for no other
reason, at least for the help and advancement of the
crusade. But Innocent shewed a stern, forbidding
face to his personal entreaties, and answered after-
wards formally in writing, that, though desiring peace,
S&MS^frO : H
|Sw|%)
GOLD CLASP OF SAINT LOUIS.
1248]
Preliminaries of the Crusade
*57
he would never admit any overtures which did not
most fully vindicate the honour of the
Church, and provide for the safety of those ^ ^
who had adhered to her party. He added * *
that he was fixed to accept no treaty which ^
did not absolutely exclude Frederick and all kis
family from the Imperial throne. Louis abandoned
his mediation sadly, and dismissed the ambassadors
whom the Emperor, though himself distrusting all
hope of peace, had sent at his request. He declared
that the fault would be the Pope's if impediment
came to the crusade, and begged him to guard
France as the apple of his eye and the bulwark of
Christendom. Innocent promised willingly to de-
fend it with all his might against Frederick or the
English King, should either attack, and to send a
special nuncio to the latter forbidding him to com-
mit any act of hostility during the crusade ; in which
he was as good as his word. Louis then confessed
himself to the Pope, and having received absolution
and blessing continued his journey down the Rhone.
On the way he came to the castle of Roche de Glui,
the stronghold of a robber lord called Roger, who
barred the passage of the river and plundered pil-
grims and merchants. This he besieged, took, and
dismantled, but restored it to the owner, on condi-*
tion of levying no more unjust tolls. At Avignon
there was a brawl between crusaders and citizens,
who, enraged by reproaches of heresy cast in their
teeth, and remembering old quarrels, set on and slew
a number of soldiers in the narrow streets. Certain
barons begged the King to permit the town to be
158
Saint Louis
[ 1243 - 1248 ]
sacked, reminding him of the obstinate and deadly
resistance made against his father. But he checked
their anger, refusing to mix a private revenge with
his holy enterprise.
Reaching Aigues Mortes he embarked on the
morrow of Saint Bartholomew, together with the
Queen, who refused to stay behind, his
j* brothers of Artois and Anjou, the Legate,
5 and the flower of his army. They filled
thirty-eight great ships, besides those which carried
servants, horses, and provisions. Some thousands of
less efficient troops were left for want of transport.
After two days, the wind blowing fair, the fleet set
sail for Cyprus, where the King had named the
rendezvous of his forces.
ROBERT, COUNT OF ARTOIS WILLIAM LONQSWORD
CHAPTER VII
THE CRUSADE IN EGYPT
I248~12$0
A T this time the Mohammedan was not more
f\ united than the Christian world. The empire
of Saladin had not been preserved by his
successors : his dominions were divided among differ-
ent branches of his family, who spent their strength
in mutual war and aggression. The principal stem,
in virtue of possessions but not of birth, ruled at
Cairo and disputed Syria with their kinsmen of
Damascus and Aleppo. The present Sultan of this
line, Saleh Nodgemeddin Ayoub, grandnephew of
Saladin, was he who invited the aid of the Khoras-
mians. He had driven his uncle, Saleh Ismael, from
Damascus, and carried his conquests as far north-
wards as Emessa, which his armies were besieging,
the place being held for Naser Saladin of Aleppo,
Saladin’s great-grandson. The news of the approach-
ing crusade induced him to seek a truce and alliance
against the common gnemy ; in this he was backed
by the Caliph of Bagdad, the titular head of Islam,
who exhorted the princes of his faith to reconcile
themselves for the destruction of the Christians.
159
i6o
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
It had become a maxim of Western policy that the
Saracen power should be assailed at its source and
Palestine conquered in Egypt. But as such an enter-
prise demanded resources of the first order, and pro-
mised more danger than immediate profit, the weaker
crusades of the last thirty years had chosen another
mark, and preferred to operate toward strengthen-
ing and extending the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem.
Their endeavours had left that state reduced to the
extremity of weakness, deprived of its capital, and
dependent on the mercy of the Egyptian Sultan,
who could always seize the favourable moment of the
retirement of foreign succours to overrun the country
with irresistible numbers. The present expedition
was designed for the thorough subdual of Egypt,
which having been conquered, it would be easy to
make and maintain an advantageous settlement in
Syria. The immediate distress of Palestine after the
battle of Gaza had already been relieved. For the
Khorasmians, while they besieged Emessa the follow-
^ ing year, were caught in an ambush by the
' * Emir of that place, and twenty-five thousand
of them cut to pieces. The rest, deserted by
the Egyptians, who found them troublesome allies,'
soon broke up, and were slaughtered in detail by the
people of the country: so that the whole horde was
exterminated within three years from its entry. Nor
did the Sultan of Egypt in his march to Damascus
molest the Christian fortresses of the coast.
• r
The French fleet made the harbour of Limesson
in Cyprus after one week’s voyage, without mishap,
save the loss of one vessel on a shoal. Louis would
1250 ]
The Crusade in Egypt
1 6 1
have wished to sail straight to Egypt ; but the diffi-
culty of assembling and transporting so great an army
and its stores in a single convoy compelled him to
winter in the island, which afforded a friendly base
for gathering his forces and descending on the enemy
in full strength. Established there, his numbers
were quickly swollen by bodies of crusaders who
kept arriving in their own vessels, both from France
and from other parts of Europe. The King of
Cyprus, who was of the French family of Lusignan,
himself took the cross, with most of his nobility.
An immense quantity of supplies had been brought
together during two years. The sea-shore was cov-
ered with barrels of wine, says the historian of the
crusade, stacked on one another to the height of
barns ; and the fields with vast ricks of corn, like
green mountains, as the top layers sprouted after
the rains. Great treasure of money also had been
collected, from which many crusading nobles received
pensions to support themselves and their followers ;
and a store of ploughs, hoes, and other instruments
of tillage, as if for a permanent settlement in the
country of the Infidels. During the winter further
convoys of provisions were procured from the Vene-
tians and the Emperor.
There were evils, however, to set against the ad-
vantages of winter quarters. Time was given to the
Sultan to become aware of his danger, to patch up
a truce with Aleppo, and to withdraw himself and
his army from Damascus into Egypt. The change
of climate and of living bred sickness among the cru-
saders, which carried off some considerable persons,
i 62
Saint Louis
El 248'
among them the Count of Dreux, Archambaud
of Bourbon, and Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, and a
number of lower rank. The Queen and the Count
of Anjou fell ill, but recovered.
The King was much occupied in settling and re-
straining the old feuds and mutual jealousy of the
Christians, which had hampered so many previous
ciusades. He was able to. reconcile for a time the
Templars with the Hospitallers ; the Greek with the
Latin Church in Cyprus ; and, through his envoys,
the Prince of Antioch with the King of Armenia!'
He had to check by force some unruly barons, who
planned to seize Genoese ships and convey them-
selves into Palestine. He sent a mission to Acre, to
quell the strife between the Genoese and the Pisans,
who were fighting for the town and would not
send the ships and sailors required for transport.
At the end of the year a Tartar embassy arrived in
A.D. Cy P rus - The ambassadors, named Saphadin,
1248 Mephat, David, and Mark, were believed
to come from the great Khan of Tartary
himself, grandson of Gengis. In truth they appear*
to have been sent by one of his viceroys, governing
m Western Persia, who had received the report of
the French expedition from the alarm of his Moham-
medan neighbours. The missiqnary zeal of travel-
ling monks despatched by the Pope had already
penetrated the heart of Tartary, and spread some
dim knowledge of the West among the visited na-
tions. They found in theiF wanderings toleration
and even favour, and in some parts traces and rem-
nants of ancient Christian worship. From this, wild
1250 ]
The Crusade in Egypt
163
hopes had been drawn of a great conversion. The
arrival of the envoys, themselves Nestorian Christ-
ians, fitted the mood of the time, and excited high
interest and expectation, which they nourished by
their boasts. They declared that the Khan had
been baptised and was about to besiege Bagdad with
a great army, and desired the friendship of the King
of France, to prevent the Sultan of Egypt from
sending help. The Tartars, they said, had come
from a country forty weeks' travel from their pre-
sent abode, living during the journey in tents and on
horseback. They had conquered Prester John, King
of India, whose daughter was the Khan’s mother
and a baptised Christian.
Their stories of the power and friendliness of
their masters were confirmed by a letter from the
Constable of Armenia to the King of Cyprus about
the same time.
“ We have seen many cities ruined by them,” he wrote,
“so rich and great as no man can imagine, some of them
three days’ journey in compass. We have seen also more
* than a hundred great mounds, made by the Tartars out
of the bones of those they have slain. We have trav-
elled day and night for eight months without reaching
the middle of their country. When the last Khan died
it took five years for their chiefs and barons to assemble
for his son’s election. This is the country from which
the three Kings came. They are Christians, and we have
seen pictures of Christ in their churches, and also of
the three Kings offering myrrh and frankincense.”
Louis and his council, having heard the envoys,
164
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
decided to send an embassy in return to the Khan
and to his viceroy, with letters and presents. Three
friars were chosen for the mission. The King gave
them a tent in the form of a chapel, made of rich
scarlet cloth, on the sides of which he caused to be
embroidered pictures representing the Annunciation
and the Passion of Christ. This was a gift to the
Khan, by which it was hoped his belief might be in-
creased and encouraged. The Legate wrote an
epistle to the Tartars, exhorting them to hold fast by
the orthodox faith, to acknowledge the supremacy
of Rome and the vicarship of the Pope, to beware
of schism, and to abide by the decrees of the first
four general Councils. The embassy was absent
two years ; its result and return will be narrated in
the proper place.
Another negotiation was less favourably viewed,
which the Grand Master of the Templars attempted
to set on foot with the Sultan of Egypt. The fresh,
unbroken spirit of the crusaders abhorred the idea
of accommodation with the Infidel, and suspected
the loyalty of the military orders, whom long use
and intercourse in the East had made careless, and
who were held to be governed by private tradition
and interest more than by Christian zeal. The sug-
gested treaty was no sooner heard of than rejected,
with sharp reproaches against the lukewarmness of
the Grand Master.
When spring approached, an immense
number of vessels having been procured from
every quarter, stores were got on board and
all made ready for the voyage. The army em-
A.D.
mg
1250 ]
The Crusade m Egypt
165
May
13th
barked on Ascension Day, but was held back by
unfavourable winds till Friday of the follow-
ing week. Then the King and Queen entered
their ship in the harbour of Limesson. The
fleet covered the sea with its sails, as far as eye could
reach, being eighteen hundred vessels in all, of which
a hundred and twenty were of the largest size.
Nearly three thousand knights were on board, with
their full equipage of followers, besides a great num-
ber of auxiliaries.
Putting out to sea, they were dispersed the next
day by a violent storm, and many driven to the
Syrian coast. The King and about a quarter of his
navy made back into Limesson, where they waited
a week for the rest. He was joined there by the
Duke of Burgundy and the Prince of Morea, coming
from Greece. On Trinity Sunday, the wind
having fallen, and most of the fleet come in,
they resumed their voyage and held a course
for Damietta, a fortified town situated on a mouth
of the Nile and reputed the key of Egypt.
Land was sighted on the following Friday. The
secret of their destination had been so well kept
that many of the crusaders themselves believed they
were going to Alexandria ; an error which was shared
by the Saracens, who sent part of their forces to pro-
tect that place. There was some confusion, as the
look-out of each vessel in turn reported that they
were off Damietta. The sea was calm, and the fleet
drew together and stood in to shore. Louis encour-
aged the crew of his own ship.
“ The will of God has sent us here. I am not King of
May
30th
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
1 66
France ; I am not Holy Church. You, all of you, are
King and Church. I am but one man, whose life, if God
pleases, will be spent like another’s. We are safe in any
event ; either we shall conquer and increase God’s glory
and the honour of France, or we shall fall as martyrs.
Itjs madness to think that the Lord has raised me up in
vain.”
As they came on, four galleys of the Saracens ran
out to reconnoitre, three of which, advancing too far,
were surrounded and sunk. The Infidel horsemen
lined the shore and the river bank, goodly men to
see, in rich armour with gold ornaments, which glit-
tered in the sun. They made a loud and terrible
noise with horns and cymbals. A hasty council was
assembled on board the King’s ship. Some were for
waiting till those rejoined whom the storm or the
voyage had scattered ; but Louis refused, saying that
the enemy would recover heart, and that he would
not risk lying in the open roadstead. It was decided
to anchor for the night and attack the next day.
Early in the morning the fleet weighed anchor and
bore down on the western bank of the Nile. The
greater vessels could not come close in, owing to the
shelving sands, and the French took to their boats.
There was a race to shore. Among the first rowed
a pinnace bearing the standard of Saint Denis, fob
lowed by another with the King and the Legate, who
carried a great processional cross in his arms. No
sooner had the oriflamme touched land, than Louis
leaped into the water up to his armpits and waded
ashore, shield round neck, helm on head, and sword
in hand, and would have rushed on the Saracens
1250 ]
The Crusade in Egypt
167
had not his followers held him back. A few had
landed already, and others were coming up, plung-
ing into the sea as their boats could not approach.
The Count of Jaffa, whose galley was manned by
three hundred rowers, drove at full speed right on
the beach, with pennons displayed and kettledrums
playing.
Fixing the points of their shields in the ground
and setting their lances before them like pikes, the
Christians formed an impenetrable hedge against the
furious assaults of the Saracen cavalry. The enemy
gave way, unable to break through and distressed by
flights of arrows from the boats. Soon greater num-
bers gained the shore and, their horses having now
been landed, the crusaders mounted and charged.
The Infidels did not wait to meet them, but turned
and fled across the river into Damietta, breaking
a few arches of the bridge behind them. This,
and fear of an ambush, restrained the victors from
pursuit. While they were fighting, a number of
Christian slaves and captives burst out of the un-
guarded city, and came running to their compa-
triots with shouts of joy. Being acquainted with
the landing-places and the banks of the river, they
helped the. quick disembarkation of the invaders,
which was carried out in the remaining hours of the
day ; and the whole French army bivouacked along
the shore.
Damietta was strong by art and nature, having a
triple circuit of walls, bastioned with towers, on the
land side, and a double line of similar fortification
facing the river, which itself was a formidable barrier.
i68
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
The place had stood against the crusaders thirty
years before through a five-months’ siege, and had
been reduced in the end by famine. But this time
the Saracens did not attempt to hold it. They
were weakened and much disheartened by the battle
on the sands; but chiefly a report that the Sultan
was dead discouraged them. He had been carried
from Damascus in a litter, sick of a grievous ulcer in
the thigh, produced, it was said, by a poisoned car-
pet, and was lying in extremity at Achmon. They
had sent him word of the enemy’s arrival three
times by carrier-pigeon, but got no reply. This
confirmed the rumour. The governor, Fakareddin,
and the Mamelukes who were the strength of the
garrison, either struck with panic, or through fear
that their interest might be neglected if a new
Government were set up without them, resolved to
abandon Damietta ; which they did the same night,
by land and river, in great disorder, after cutting the
throats of most of their prisoners and setting fire to
the bazaars. A great part of the Mohammedan
population followed them. A few Christian captives
who escaped massacre checked the flames, and in
the morning sent out messengers to the French, who
were watching the town, having seen that something
was wrong.
So soon as the truth of their news was ascertained
the King ordered a Te Deum to be chanted through
his army, and the bridge, which was only slightly
damaged, to be repaired. The town was occupied
at once, the streets cleansed of dead, and the re-
mains of the fire extinguished. All this was done
CAPTURE OF DA Ml ETTA,
12501
The Crusade in Egypt
i6q
by three o’clock in the afternoon, when the King,
the Legate, and the barons rode into Damietta,
fasting and in procession. They went to the chief
mosque, which had been formerly a Christian church.
It was purified and sprinkled with holy water, and
there the Legate led the Te Deuni a second tinTe,
while the crusaders followed with their voices, many
weeping for joy and zeal. Afterwards mass was
solemnly celebrated. Thus Damietta fell to the
Christians, with the loss of very few soldiers and
only one of importance, the old Count of La Marche,
who, smarting under the reproaches and continual
dishonour which he had to endure from many,
attacked the enemy furiously at landing, like a man
careless of life, and received severe wounds, of which
he died shortly afterwards.
A vast quantity of food, arms and military engines,
clothing, gold and silver vessels, and furniture of all
sorts was found in the city. By advice of his coun-
cil the King claimed all the corn and other victuals
for provisioning the army, and bade the rest of the
spoil be taken to the quarters of the Legate for
distribution. But all that was brought in amounted
to no more than the value of six thousand pounds;
and though this was divided there were loud mur-
murs because the stores of food were withheld ; for
it was the good old custom of the crusades, men
said, that when a town was taken one third only of
all it contained should go to the King, and two
thirds to the pilgrims that followed him.
It was decided to rest at Damietta for the present,
because the flood-time of the Nile was approaching,
t ! ' : I '
/
170
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
when the country would become impassable, as for-
mer crusaders had found to their cost. Stores were
landed from the fleet. The Queen and her ladies,
with the Legate, were lodged in the town, which was
occupied also by a force of five hundred knights:
the King and the rest of the army pitched a camp
outside.
Meanwhile the Sultan had rallied from his illness,
had hanged the captains of the deserting garrison,
and was gathering troops at Mansourah, a strong
position on the river bank, lying half-way between
Damietta and Cairo. He sent to offer a general
battle on the morrow of Saint John Baptist; but
Louis replied that he would pursue the quarrel, not
on this day or that, but every day, until the Sultan
turned from his errors. The Infidels did not venture
to attack in force, but watched and harassed the army
as occasion offered, cutting off stragglers and forag-
ing parties, or alarming the tents with a sudden
swoop. The swiftness and mobility of their light
Bedouin horsemen gave them the advantage in this
method of fighting over the heavily armed crusaders.
The same guerilla warriors crept by night into the
camp, waiting till the watch had passed, which they
knew by the clank of arms and trampling of horses,
and killed men as they slept, carrying off their heads,
for each of which the Sultan paid a golden bezant.
To prevent this the King ordered the watch to be
increased and to go their rounds on foot instead of
on horseback. At a later time the camp was fortified
with deep ditches guarded by crossbowmen, who
kept the hostile cavalry at a distance.
12501
The Crusade in Egypt
171
The army swelled in numbers, as the remnant of
the voyagers came in and fresh succours arrived from
Syria and Greece and Europe, Among others came
William Longsword of Salisbury, from England, with
two hundred knights. But the stay at Damietta
was fruitful of damage to the expedition. Prolonged
inaction, which is the severest test even of veteran
armies, corrupted the feudal militia like an insidious
disease. The bonds of discipline, always loose, were
relaxed further, and the camp was filled with dis-
orders and riotous living. The great nobles wasted
their substance in outrageous feasting ; the royal of-
ficers oppressed the merchants of the place, so that
the noise of their extortions prevented many from
coming; the common soldiers were given up to de-
bauchery, establishing their brothels within a stone's
throw of the King s tent, Louis knew of these ex-
cesses, and resented but was unable to check them,
though some offenders felt the weight of his displeas-
ure after the war. The same weakness of the crusad-
ers appeared in their behaviour toward the enemy.
In spite of the strictest prohibition of private excur-
sions and attacks, a troop of Saracens appearing be-
fore the lines could always draw a headlong charge of
some knight or noble, burning with zeal and eager to
illustrate his prowess. “ I would not keep a thou-
sand such, since they will not obey my orders/' the
King was stung into saying, when he heard of
the death of Walter Chastillon, who in this way had
galloped fully armed from his tent upon an approach-
ing body of Infidels.
Constant quarrels between the French and English
t
l*J2
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
disturbed the camp, as one side complained of greed
and selfishness and the other of interference and
insult; the English, according to their national char-
acter, having too little regard for the interests, and
the French for the feelings, of others. Louis tried to
smooth the trouble and to induce his own people
to forbear, but in vain ; while his brother of Artois,
a desperate hothead, was foremost in the feud.
Matters came to a head when William Longsword,
having led out a private unauthorised foray and
captured a rich caravan bound for Alexandria, was
compelled by the Count of Artois to give up his
booty. He demanded redress from the King, who
answered soothingly, but professed himself unable to
do anything in face of his barons. Thereupon
William, upbraiding him bitterly, went off with his
followers and sailed to Acre.
As autumn drew on, the King, having no news, be-
came anxious about the Count of Poitiers, who was
bringing the arribre-ban of France. A weekly pro-
cession was ordered for his safety, which proved so
efficacious that he reached Damietta before
the third Saturday, after escaping a great
storm. This was in the end of October. He
brought money as well as men, and a supply of corn
obtained from the Emperor. The expected rein-
forcement having arrived, and the flood decreasing,
a great council of the army was held to settle the
plan of campaign. Peter of Brittany and most of
the barons were for attacking "Alexandria, where was
a fine harbour ; but the Count of Artois advocated
a march on Cairo, the capital. “If we would kill
A.D.
1249
12503
The Crusade in Egypt
*73
the serpent,” he urged, “ we must crush its head.”
His advice was followed, the more readily as the
governor of Cairo, whose brother the Sultan had
put to death for his share in abandoning Damietta,
was making offers to betray his trust. William
Longsword was called back from Acre ; the
Queen and the Legate were left in Damietta 2 til
with a strong garrison ; and the army began
to move about the beginning of Advent, full of hope
and courage.
They followed the eastern bank of the Nile, ac- -
companied by a convoy of boats carrying supplies.
The country was intersected by canals and water-
courses and difficult for the passage of a large force.
The first obstacle of this kind was crossed by dam-
ming its bed, in the face of five hundred horse of
the Saracens, whom the Templars, being in the van,
charged, contrary to orders, and destroyed. Never-
theless the advance was of extreme slowness, and a
month had passed when they arrived at Mansourah,
and found the way stopped by a deep and broad
arm of the Nile, called Tafnis or Ashmoun, flowing
between them and the town, where lay the main In-
fidel army prepared to dispute the crossing.
The Sultan Saleh was already dead, having been
carried off by his malady a week after the Christians
left Damietta. His eldest son, Moadham Turan
Shah, was in Mesopotamia at the time, on the far-
thest confines of the empire, whither his father's
jealousy had removed'him. Saleh had sent for him
when he perceived the end approaching, and had or-
dered his decease to be concealed until the arrival
t
174
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
of his successor. The command was well obeyed.
His favourite concubine, Sajareldor, a woman of ex-
traordinary ability and character, such as the East
sometimes produces, by a sort of miracle, out of the
unfavourable surroundings which enervate a whole
sex, took the reins of government ; and, in alliance
with the Emir Fakareddin, whom age, rank, and
military reputation made the most powerful subject
of Egypt, imposed her authority and was recognised
as regent by the captains of the Mamelukes, to whom
alone the Sultan’s death was avowed.
In this crisis of affairs the Saracens would have
been glad to be quit of their enemy, and it appears
that terms were proposed to the crusaders, to the
effect that they should give up Damietta and receive
instead the kingdom of Jerusalem and the release
of all captives. Louis was easily persuaded to re-
ject such a peace, which was obnoxious both to the
fanatic zeal of the Count of Artois and to the policy
of the Legate. The first, inflated with victory,
aimed at the total overthrow of Egyptian power;
the other considered rightly that it was a dear bar-
gain which gave them, in exchange for their present
conquest and future hopes, nothing but the nominal
possession of Palestine, which the Sultan could re-
duce again with ease if his strength at home was
left unimpaired. Both sides, therefore, turned to the
arbitrament of arms, the Christians flushed with
achievement and confident of success, the Infidels
preparing to fight no longer "for a distant province,
but for the very heart and life of their empire.
The tactics of the crusaders were of the simplest
12501
The Crusade in Egypt
175
kind, and no plan suggested itself to them, having
arrived before Mansourah, but to repeat their former
device and throw a mole across the Tafnis. But
this undertaking, difficult in itself from the breadth
and volume of the stream, became impossible in
face of a numerous and* active enemy, well versed
in all the arts of war and greatly superior in engines.
To protect the building of the mole two cat-castles,
as they were called, were constructed. These were
covered galleries ending in towers armed with arba-
lests throwing quarrels. They were pushed for-
ward to the water's edge, and men working under
their shelter heaved earth and other materials into
the river. On the other side the Saracens ranged
sixteen large catapults, which, though they could not
break the cat-castles, made the approaches danger-
ous, and swept a wide space between the Tafnis and
the Nile. They also sent bodies of horse across the
Tafnis higher up, to cut off convoys and assault
the enemy's encampment. And, as the mole ad-
vanced, they dug out the opposite bank, widening
the stream, so that the Christian's saw the labour
of three weeks undone in a single day. The In-
fidels were much encouraged by their first successes,
and Fakareddin boasted that before the month was
out he would eat in the French King's tent.
As the operations seemed likely to be prolonged,
Louis took measures to secure his camp, closing it
with a ditch on the further side between the two
rivers. He himself, with the Count of Anjou,
guarded the southern front towards Cairo ; the Count
of Poitiers took the northern towards Damietta;
c
176 Saint Louis [ 1248 -
the Count of Artois was charged with the protec-
tion of the engines. By this array the incursions
of the enemy were checked, and an attack which
they were emboldened to deliver, having crossed the
river in great force, was defeated with slaughter.
They saved themselves by retiring within range of
their catapults, where the victors did not venture to
follow.
The mole made little progress, but the King and
the barons persisted in the attempt, till the Saracens
brought up a new and formidable engine which' threw
Greek fire. The missile flew through the air with a
noise like thunder, says the historian of the crusade.
It was the size of a barrel, with a tail of fire, making
night like day. The Christians were amazed and
helpless before so terrible a weapon. They fell on
their knees each time the Saracens shot, and prayed
to be delivered from peril. The fire was directed
against the cat-castles ; at first only by night ; pre-
sently by day, when a hail of stones from the cata-
pults could prevent any effort to extinguish the
flames. In this way one of the cat-castles was burned
at the first attempt, to the rage and despair of the
Count of Anjou, who was guarding it.
The King then changed his plan, resolving to
bridge the river at once before worse happened,
using the boats of the army. When the Count of
Anjou’s turn of command came round — for this
opportunity was given him of retrieving his disaster
— the remaining cat-castle was run out suddenly to
the end of the mole, to protect the work. But the
Saracens were ready, and, concentrating their shot on
1250 ] The Crusade in Egypt 177
the mole speedily cleared it of men, then launched
Greek fire against the cat-castle and reduced it to
ashes. The Christian army saw its destruction with
joy; so much did they dread the danger to which
its defence had lately exposed them.
It was now February. The crusaders were no
nearer crossing the Tafnis than when they ^ ^
arrived on its bank, and in a council of
I2CQ
war the barons confessed themselves at a
standstill. Then Humbert of Beaujeu, the Con-
stable, said that certain Bedouins had offered for
five hundred bezants to show him a ford passable by
horsemen. The King snatched at the chance, and
ordered the price to be paid. He left the Duke of
Burgundy with the footmen and the lords of Pal-
estine to guard the camp, and, taking the whole
strength of his cavalry, marched by night to
the ford. It lay about four miles down- ^5^*
stream, and proved a slippery and dangerous
crossing, with high, crumbling banks, but watched
only by a few hundreds of the enemy, who fled
without offering resistance. The van was given to
the Templars, experienced in Eastern warfare;* the
second place to the Count of Artois, whom the King
strictly enjoined, knowing his impetuous temper, not
to advance too far in front of the rest. But he was
no sooner across than he began to press past the
Templars in order to pursue the flying Infidels.
They remonstrated, bidding him keep his place ; but
he could not have stopped had he wished ; for his
bridle was held by a deaf knight, who heard nothing
that they said and kept urging him forward, shouting,
178
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
“ On to them ! On to them ! ” Ashamed to be outpaced,
the Templars set spurs to their horses, and together
they raced galloping forward right on to and through
the skirts of the Infidel encampment. Nothing
could resist the furious shock ; the Saracens scattered
before them, taken unawares besides. Fakareddin,
who was painting his beard in a bath, rushed out
half-armed to rally his men, and fell fighting. The
charge was carried up to the enemy’s engines, oppo-
site the Christian camp on the other bank. Here a
halt was called. The Master of the Templars urged
that they should wait for the King and the hinder
division, and should seize the engines and the bank,
which would secure communications with the rest of
their army. But the Count of Artois, seeing Man-
sourah lie open before them, scouted the sage counsel
as cowardice or worse, upbraiding the notorious
lukewarmness and treachery of the military orders.
His insults broke their prudence. “ Lift up our
banner, then,” cried the Grand Master ; “ let us go
to our death.” William Longsword, who tried to
appease the quarrel, got nothing but fresh taunts
from the fiery count ; as he flung back a hot answer
they all put on their helmets, and with pennons dis-
played drove on again into Mansourah and out
beyond it as far as the Sultan’s suburban palace.
But by this time the Saracens had recovered from
their surprise and the loss of their general. The
Emir Bibars, the victor of Gaza, had arrayed the
Mamelukes, and the Christians found themselves
surrounded by overwhelming numbers. Endeavour-
ing to retreat through the town and to rejoin their
PLAN OF
The dotted tint shows the
route of the Count of Artox
12501
The Crusade in Egypt
179
main body, they were destroyed in the streets almost
to a man, the Infidels obstructing the way with
barricades and assailing them with missiles from the
houses. Some were forced into the river and
drowned. Robert of Artois fell, and William Long-
sword,' and Raoul of Coucy, and two hundred and
eighty knights of the Temple. The Grand Master
escaped with the loss of an eye.
Meanwhile, the middle array of the French and
the King himself with the rearguard having crossed
the ford were advancing towards Mansourah. The
whole force of the enemy was now in action. Their
defence was ordered by Bibars, who threw his
Mameluke horsemen in desperate charges against
the foremost bands of crusaders, and rolled them
back on the King's division, which came up with a
great sounding of horns and trumpets. Louis was
in the midst. “ Never saw I so goodly a knight!"
writes Joinville, who had been in front. “ He shewed
a head and shoulders above all his people, a gilded
helm on his head, and a German sword * in his
hand." His company, the flower of the French
knights, engaged the Mamelukes hand to hand. “ It
was a fair feat of arms; for none shot with bow or
arbalest, but all was done with mace and sword
between our men and the Turks in the mellay."
The Infidels were driven back; and after holding
a hasty council on the spot the King directed his
march, by the advice of John of Valery, towards the
engines, where he could join hands with the Duke of
Burgundy across the river.
* That is, a large, two-handed sword.
i8o
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
The advance was hampered by a rain of arrows
from the light troops of the enemy, and by repeated
onsets of the Mameluke chivalry. Once it was
stayed to disengage the left, where the Counts of
Poitiers and Flanders were hardly pressed. The
bank and the engines were reached at last, and here
was the most desperate struggle of the day ; for the
Turks charged furiously home, trying to force the
Christians into the Tafnis. They drove in the flank
and came as far as the King. Six of them seized
his bridle to drag him off, but he freed himself with
great blows of his two-handed sword. Some of the
French lost heart, and plunged into the water, to swim
to their camp on the other side, and were drowned.
Meanwhile Humbert the Constable, who had rid-
den off with Joinville to aid the Count of Artois, on
a report that he was defending a house in Mansou-
rah, found fresh bodies of the enemy coming up
from that quarter. They seized the bridge spanning
a brook on this side the town ; there Peter of Brit-
tany joined them, galloping back from Mansourah
all bloody with wounds. With his help and that of
the Count of Soissons they checked the Saracens
and saved the King from being surrounded. Louis
on his part maintained his ground, encouraging and
rallying his men, till the Duke of Burgundy could
bridge the stream from the end of the mole with a
rough raft hastily constructed. Across this, at sun-
set, the Constable brought the French crossbowmen,
who, arraying themselves in front of the knights^ let
fly a shower of bolts. Then the Infidels turned and
fled, leaving their camp, which the Bedouins had
1250] The Crusade in Egypt 181
piilaged, and their engines in the hands of the
crusaders.
It was a Pyrrhic victory, and the fruits remained
with the Saracens. The fight had been fierce and
bloody, and the loss heavy to both sides; the more
easily borne, therefore, by the greater multitude.
The victors, exhausted by wounds and fatigue, were
not in a position to pursue their advantage ; the van-
quished, encouraged by their nearness to victory and
abounding in fresh resources, withdrew with con-
fidence and the intention to attack in their turn.
They triumphed in the destruction of the Christian
vanguard, especially as the surcoat of the Count of
Artois, emblazoned with the golden lilies, was found
among the slain and believed for a time to be the
King’s. And the death of Fakareddin was a gain,
since the conduct of the war devolved on a more
vigorous and able commander.
Louis lay that night in the enemy’s pavilions. As
he rode to his quarters, the Provost of the Hospital,
who had just crossed the river, came up and, kissing
his armed hand, asked whether there was any news
of the Count of Artois. “ There is sure news,” said
the King; “ I know that my brother is in Paradise,”
“Ha! Sire,” said the provost, “ you have consola-
tion ; for you have gained more honour than any
King of France before you. You have passed a
river in face of your enemies, and have beaten and
chased them from the field and taken their tents
arid engines.” “ God be praised for all He has done
for us,” the King replied ; but great tears were seen
to fall from his eyes.
$
182
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
The Saracens, who had but drawn off a little dis-
tance, assaulted the French in their new encampment
next day at dawn ; and again, in full force, two days
later. The King had surrounded his army with a
wooden palisade. They charged it on horse and
oh foot, after throwing Greek fire ; and breaking
through in one quarter, where the Count of Anjou
was stationed, would have carried the position, had
not Louis himself led an impetuous rescue and
driven them back. At other points also the assault
was repulsed, not without hard fighting.
Failing to storm, they contented themselves with
a blockade under the eye of their new Sultan, who
arrived in Egypt a fortnight after the battle of Man-
sourah. The star of the Christians was sinking fast.
It was well for the King to encourage his troops and
remind them that they had been victorious in two
general engagements. Crippled by wounds, worn
out with hardship, demoralised by failure, so far
from marching on Cairo, they were in fact besieged
in the two camps which they now occupied, one on
each bank of the Tafnis. Their position grew less
tolerable daily. In a short time, as the bodies of
the slain rose to the surface of the "water, the river
was covered with rotten and stinking corpses, which
choked the whole stream under the bridge joining
the camps and for a stone’s throw above. It took
eight days to bury them in pits, where they contin-
ued to spread infection. Being the season of Lent,
the army fed on fish, which were gorged with human
flesh. The sultry and corrupted air, the poisoned
water, the unwholesome diet, soon bred a frightful
1250 ]
The Crusade in Egypt
183
plague. The limbs of the sick withered ; their skin
turned black, like an old boot. Their flesh died
and rotted round the mouth and gums, and had to
be cut away before they could eat. Copious dis-
charges of matter flowed from the head ; bleeding
at the nose was a sign of death. The whole camp
was filled with groans and cries, “like those of
women in travail.’" The very priests, who attended
the sick, fell down as they lifted the Host, stricken
with the same malady. Famine was soon added to
pestilence. No supplies could reach them ; for the
Saracens with their light cavalry beset all the roads
and paths, and dragging their galleys overland to a
spot below the camp closed the approach from
Damietta by river, and cut off several convoys,
eighty vessels in all, before it was even suspected
they were there. The scarcity was such that ^
by Easter an ox was worth eighty pounds, «
a sheep or a pig thirty, and a measure of
wine ten. “The French,” says the chronicler, “a
nation above all others dainty and delicate in their
food, were compelled to eat the most unclean and
horrible substances, and even their precious horses.”
The faith of many began to waver as they consid-
ered their present misery and recalled the numerous
disasters of the Christians in the last thirty years,
A multitude of common soldiers deserted to the
enemy, who fed them and took them into service.
They were allowed to keep their religion, but some
earned rich rewards by apostacy.
In addition to these evils, discord arose in the
camp upon proposals of truce made by the Saracens,
184
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
who offered, as before, to exchange Jerusalem for
Damietta, but demanded the King's person to be
left as a hostage. The barons would not hear of
this. “ Better every man of us should be killed or
taken,” one of them declared, “ than that we should
be said to have left our King in pawn.” But the
mass of the army, regarding such nice scruples less
than the hope of avoiding their distresses, murmured
at the rejection of the proffered terms.
The King had already given up his encampment
on the farther bank, and withdrawn his whole army
into the space between the Tafnis and the Nile ; not
without damage from the enemy, who attacked
during the crossing. But the position was not bet-
tered except in safety from assault. Seeing, there-
fore, that all must perish if they stayed where they
were, he prepared to retreat on Damietta. The sick
were placed on galleys to be sent down the river.
The same way went the Legate, the Patriarch of
Jerusalem, and the Duke of Burgundy. Louis,
though suffering from the general plague and from
dysentery, so wasted that his bones seemed coming
through the skin, and so weak that he could not
walk, and several times swooned away, refused to
accept this means of escape, which was pressed on
him by his counsellors. “ I have brought my peo-
ple here,” he said, u and I will take them back with
me or die with them.” Accordingly, mounted on a
palfrey and unarmed, he took his place with the
rearguard, the post of danger.
The retreat began in the night. The Saracen
horsemen soon pursued ; for the King's orders to
1250]
The Crusade in Egypt
185
break the bridge had not been executed in depart-
ing. They came up with the dawn and rode in upon
the French, who, enfeebled by sickness and
tottering from hunger, were in no condi-
tion to repulse them. Order and discipline *
were lost. The retreat became a rout, and then a
massacre. The oriflamme of France, the great
standard of the Templars, the banners of Christian
barons, known and dreaded by the Infidels on many
stricken fields, were thrown down and trampled into
the bloody mire. Scattered into knots, the crusaders
fought desperately, or with less fortitude threw down
their arms and were dragged away captive. For a
while a faithful knight or two drove the enemy off
the King, “ like flies off a cup/’ as he said himself.
But his sickness was heavy on him : he was obliged to
dismount and be carried into a hut. He did not de-
sire to live ; indeed, it seemed unlikely that he could
survive his malady till nightfall, even if he escaped
the swords of the Saracens. But when his brothers
and a few counsellors who remained near him urged
that by timely surrender he still might avert the total
destruction of the army, he consented that Philip of
Montfort should go to make what terms he could
with the Emirs. While Philip was treating, a cry
was raised among the soldiers through treachery or
mistake: “The King orders you to yield ; do not
cause the King to be killed.” Thereupon the un-
conquered remnant yielded and gave up their swords,
ThoJEmirs, seeing this, said to Philip that they would
give no terms to those who had surrendered already.
Louis himself was surrounded and seized ; and the
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
186
whole Christian host slain or taken prisoners ; for
even the vanguard, which had pushed on almost to
Damietta, was cut off and captured on the morrow.
Those who went by river fared little better.
The Duke of Burgundy, the Legate, and some
others forced a way down ; but most of the vessels,
crowded with the sick, were attacked by the enemy's
galleys and by missiles from the shore, and either
fired and sunk or taken with all on board. Great
numbers were butchered and thrown into the stream,
especially of the common sort and those whom
sickness made an encumbrance. A few, preserved
in hope of ransom, were carried to Mansourah,
whither the King and the rest of the prisoners had
been conducted, over ten thousand in all.
The Christian patience and fortitude of Louis
shone out brightly in his great calamity. Racked
by illness and pain — though his life was saved
through the skill of Saracen physicians — without at-
tendants, clothes, or the common necessaries of life,
threatened with torture or death, amid the overthrow
of his hopes and the ruin of the holy cause to which
he was vowed, he preserved an outward calm and a
cheerful faith which were the marvel of all beholders.
He was not heard to utter a single murmur against
the decree of Providence, a single complaint or angry
word at the great or petty misfortunes in which he
was fallen; but divided his time between the as-
siduous practice of prayer and devotion, and the
endeavour to secure tolerable terms for his ajmiy
and himself without injury to the interests of
Christendom.
T250]
The Crusade in Egypt
187
He reserved this business to himself, forbidding
the barons to arrange private ransoms, lest, if the
rich won free, the poor multitude might be neglected
and left in slavery. He declared, therefore, that he
would bear the whole burden, and would make no
treaty for his own release that did not include his"
followers. In the first flush of triumph the Infidels
gave rein to the insolence which victory implants in
Orientals. They boasted they would lead the King
in chains through Asia, a present to the Caliph of
Bagdad. To the common herd of prisoners, who
were cooped in a large open court, surrounded by a
wall, they offered, by hundreds at a time, the choice
of the Koran or death ; and numbers who would not
apostatise were slain. But a short time brought re-
flection and a better treatment. Damietta was still
untaken, an attempt to surprise it under cover of the
Christian banners captured in the rout having failed.
So strong a place, well garrisoned and provisioned,
and open to reinforcement from the sea, might defy
the attack of Saracen armies little -versed. in the arts
of siege, and prove, like the fortified cities of the
Syrian coast, a constant channel for fresh invasions.
Moreover, the Sultan was anxious for his own reasons
to bring on a speedy peace, desiring to break the
Mamelukes, which he could not do while war con-
tinued. Accordingly he caused proposals of truce
and ransom to be made to his prisoner.
The bargain was driven in the Eastern manner, at
first^with threats and high demands ; then, when
these proved fruitless, descending to moderation
and 'reason. The Infidels began by requiring the
1 88
Saint Louis
[ 1248 *
King to deliver up the strong places of Palestine.
If e answered, it was not in his power, for they were
, the Emperor’s fiefs, not his; and besides the senes-
chals of those places were sworn on the Saints not
to surrender them for any man’s ransom. They
"feigned anger, and threatened him with the torture
of the boot ; but he stood fast, merely saying that
he was their prisoner and they could do what they
would with his body. Making the same request
to the barons separately, they got the same reply.
It was then abandoned, and the question broached
of surrendering Damietta. Even this Louis was un-
willing to entertain, till he learned privately through
his own followers that the town was not in condition
to stand a long siege.
He asked that the Sultan would fix a sum for his
ransom, adding that the acceptance of the terms de-
pended on the Queen, not on him, though he would
enjoin her to agree. They named a million gold
bezants, or five hundred thousand French pounds.
“ I will give that willingly for my people,” said
Louis, “ and Damietta for myself ; since I am not one
to be ransomed with money.” The Sultan, admiring
the spirit which did not haggle over so great a price,
and not to be surpassed in magnanimity, at once
remitted one fifth of the ransom, and the agreement
was struck. It included a truce of ten years, and the
release of all captives taken on both sides since the
truce of the Emperor made with the Sultan’s grand-
father twenty years before. The Christians j^ere
secured in possession of the places they held in
Palestine. Safety was promised for the sick and
12501
The Crusade in Egypt
i8g
others who might remain in Damietta, till they could
be fetched away, and for the property and stores of
the crusaders left in that place.
These favourable terms, considering the plight of
the crusaders, were obtained not less by the firm-
ness of the King than through the anxieties of his’
enemy. The Emirs were astonished that he negoti-
ated without eagerness or abasement and with a
perfect indifference to his own safety. He treated,
they said, as if they were his prisoners, and not he
theirs. This high and royal quality of constancy
under misfortune was greatly esteemed by the
Saracens, and their minds, not incapable of valuing
it in an adversary, were turned to a measure of re-
spect and admiration. Thence grew a milder be-
haviour towards the captives ; who were much
benefited besides by the medical arts of the country,
better acquainted than their own with the treat-
ment and cure of the sicknesses which afflicted
them.
Truce having been made, the Sultan set out
towards Damietta. He carried the King and the
principal persons of the French along with him, in-
tending to release them and to take over the town.
But the Mamelukes already suspected his designs,
and feared the issue of peace. That famous mili-
tary caste was then in its beginning. It had been
formed first by the late Sultan out of slaves bought
young and trained up to the use of arms, and had
quickly acquired a dangerous preponderance in the
state, which left it no alternative, in face of a jealous
ruler, but supremacy or ruin. Moadham had not
190
Saint Louis
E1248-
the prudence to conceal his purpose until he was
ready to strike. By the displacement of their leaders
from his counsels and from high commands he irri-
tated the pride of the Mamelukes, and gave earnest
of their fate. Nor did he refrain from public threats
against them and against Sajareldor. Her anger
and fear incited them to anticipate their own de-
struction by the death of the Sultan. The Emirs
attacked him at a banquet in his pavilion on the
banks of the river, Bibars himself striking the first
blow. The Sultan escaped wounded, crying for
help and threatening vengeance, to a wooden tower
near by. To divert the attention of the rest of the
army, the horns were sounded as if for an assault on
Damietta ; meanwhile the conspirators surrounded
the tower and set it on fire, mocking Moadham’s en-
treaties and menaces, and as he ran through a lane
of them down to the Nile plunged their swords into
his body. He reached the water and was killed
swimming. A number of his murderers rushed to
the French King’s tent, and brandishing their bloody
weapons asked what he would give to them who had
slain his enemy. Their tumultuous entry and alarm-
ing aspect and cries in an unknown tongue seemed
to portend instant death. But Louis kept a steady
front and answered nothing. Soon explanations
were made ; they professed friendship and promised
to carry out the treaty. Octai, the captain of the
Mamelukes and chief of the conspiracy, demanded
to be knighted there and then, remembering that
such an honour had been conferred on Fakareddin
by the Emperor Frederick. Though the suit was
12503
The Crusade in Egypt
191
pressed in threatening terms, and his companions ad-
vised compliance, the King replied that he would
knight no unbeliever.
The fate of the Christians hung in the balance for
the next three days. The Emirs were divided, some
wishing to kill all the captives and make an end,'
being no longer bound, as they held, by the oath of
a dead man. Others, in the difficulty of choosing
between rival claims, are said to have suggested that
their prisoner should be made Sultan ; but to have
abandoned the thought on considering that he was
zealously devoted to his own faith and would be no
puppet in their hands. Whatever may be the truth
regarding this project, Louis himself believed it had
been entertained, and avowed that he would not
have refused the perilous offer. In the end the
Mamelukes bestowed the crown of Egypt on Saja-
reldor, who soon shared it with Azaddin, one of
their number.
Meanwhile, in the trouble and confusion of the
camp, where no man was master for the moment,
the captives, huddled together, and menaced by the
words and gestures of the revolted soldiery, were
justly alarmed for their lives. At last the Emirs
decided to ratify the treaty and demanded a renewal
of oaths, requiring the King to swear that he would
deny God and the Mother of God and renounce his
hope of salvation if he broke faith with them.
Louis, horrified, refused to utter the impious words.
Neither their insistence could move him, nor the en-
treaties of his brothers, nor the sight of the aged
Patriarch of Jerusalem, whom the Infidels tormented
192 Saint Louis- [ 1248 -
till he cried out in pain that the King should swear
and he would take the sin on his own soul.
On the fourth day from the Sultan's assassination,
being the Friday after Ascension, in the morning,
Damietta was delivered to the Saracens ac-
* 6 th^ corc ^ n g to agreement. The same evening
the King and his followers were released.
They embarked 011 their own galleys, which lay in
the river and had already received on board the
occupants of the town, who during the month of the
captivity had endured great troubles. The chief
burden fell on the Queen, who bore it as befitted
the wife of Louis. She was but three days from
childbirth when the news of her husband's capture
came ; and the very day after her delivery saw her
chamber filled with a mob of seafaring men, Pisans
and Genoese, who declared their resolution to sail
back home with their ships. Margaret summoned
up strength to persuade them from this desertion,
which would have left the army without hope of
escape ; appealing to their pity and cupidity she
undertook to pay and feed them all at her own ex-
pense while they stayed. This she did at immense
cost. The son whom she bore was given the name
of Tristan, in commemoration of the sad circum-
stances of his birth. She was obliged to leave Da-
mietta before her time of recovery was out, in view
of its approaching surrender, and sailed to Acre to
await the King.
The promise of the Saracens to respect the per-
sons and property of the crusaders left in th enlace
was not kept. Enraged, it is -said, by finding that
12503 The Crusade in Egypt 193
the French in departing had destroyed most of the
stores which should have been given up, they mas-
sacred the sick, and making three great piles, of
military engines, of salted pork, and of dead bodies,
set fire to all. Damietta was afterwards razed to
the ground, lest it might tempt a third Christian ex-"
pedition to seek a footing in Egypt.
It had been stipulated that one half the ransom
should be paid before the King’s departure, Alphonso
of Poitiers being detained as an hostage till this was
done % The treasure at Damietta sufficed, except for
thirty thousand pounds, which was obtained with
difficulty from the Templars. The weighing out of
the money took two whole days. By an oversight
of the Saracens the French paid ten thousand pounds
too little; but Louis learning this from the rash
boast of one of his people was angry at the fraud,
and insisted that the error should be made good at
once. As soon as the business was over he stood
out of the liver mouth, the Count of Poitiers joining
him on the way, and set sail for Acre. Not all fol-
lowed ; for the Count of Soissons ^nd other great
men had departed on the morrow of liberation to
return to France, disregarding the King who begged
them to stay at least till the treaty was executed.
With them went Peter of Brittany, stricken with a
sickness, which ended his troublesome life three
weeks afterwards at sea.
The news of the disaster was for some time dis-
believed in western Europe. It was the more un-
welcome and surprising as the report of the capture
of Damietta had been followed by rumours which
194
Saint Louis
[ 1248 -
turned the further plans and hopes of the crusaders
into accomplished fact, and received a full dress of
detail and verisimilitude from the invention of re-
turning pilgrims or the willing imagination of their
hearers. It was stated for a certainty that the King
-had taken Cairo, which was betrayed by its garrison
and by an insurrection of Christian captives ; and
that he had afterwards defeated the Sultan and a
vast army in a pitched field fought from sunrise to
sunset. Even the order of battle was related and
the numbers of the slain. The Sultan had fled into
unknown parts ; the Infidels had abandoned Alex-
andria ; and the French were masters of all lower
Egypt.
The truth, as it became confirmed beyond doubt,
was a rude awakening from these pleasant dreams.
The grief was greatest in France, where it touched
all ranks and classes of men. It was aggravated by
the distance of the calamity, the slowness of com-
munication, and the difficulty of ascertaining the
fate of particular persons. Things were turned to
the worst, as each man supposed his own kinsfolk
and friends to have perished, and the whole realm
took on the aspect of mourning and lamentation.
The general body of Christendom felt the blow,
though less keenly. Unbelief was encouraged and
the zeal of faith chilled, particularly in Venice and
those parts of Italy which trade and intercourse
with the East made tolerant of the Infidels and
anxious to conciliate their victorious power. The
papal court was deeply troubled, and fell into deeper
odium. For many imputed the misfortune to the
1250]
195
The Crusade in Egypt
divisions and weakness engendered by its policy,
saying that things would have gone otherwise, had
the Emperor been free to assist the crusade. Men
added up in the tale of its faults the slaughter in
Egypt and the impending loss of Palestine, besides
so much Christian blood wastefully spilt in Italy and
Germany.
Among those who mourned the slain, the Countess
of Salisbury, mother of William Longsword, is re-
lated to have shown a spirit deserving mention. She
had retired from the world to become abbess of a
house of nuns at Laycock. Hearing of her son’s
death it is said she fell on her knees and gave thanks
to God that she had been thought worthy to bear
such a one, who was now numbered with the martyrs
and might be allowed to help her with his interces-
sion in attaining Paradise.
THE KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM THE TEMPLE
*
CHAPTER VIII
THE SOJOURN IN PALESTINE
1250-1254
T HE King reached Acre after six days’ voyage
with the wreck and fragment of his expedi-
tion. Not one hundred knights accompanied
him of the two thousand eight hundred who had
assembled in Cyprus. Many were dead ; many in
prison ; some had started for home. His brothers
of Anjou and Poitiers and a few great lords still re-
mained, but impoverished and unattended and sick
of the war. The Count of Anjou in particular showed
open impatience and aversion, avoiding the King’s
company and spending his time in dicing, even in
the ship. This at such a time much annoyed Louis,
who one day threw the dice overboard with his own
hands, but could not bring his brother to a change
of behaviour.
The question arose, whether to return at once to
France, or to stay in Palestine and endeavour to re-
lieve and confirm the Christians there established,
and at the same time to procure the release of the
captives and the fulfilment of the Egyptian treaty.
196
1250 - 54 ] The Sojourn in Palestine 197
Louis laid the issue before his followers for deliber-
ation and advice. On the one hand, he said, the
Regent, in letters written before hearing of the disas-
ter, urged immediate return, on the ground that the
English truce had not been renewed, and the king-
dom lay open to attack. On the other, he was as-
sured by those of the country that departure at this
moment involved the instant surrender of the settle-
ments in the Holy Land, since no one would dare
to defend them against the victorious Infidels, if he
withdrew.
A week was given to consider the matter. When
the Council met, the French lords one after another
spoke for returning home. The Count of Jaffa, who
was chief of the Eastern barons, professed unwill-
ingness to speak ; for his own castles, he said, were
in risk and his motives therefore suspect. Being
pressed by Louis he declared that were the King
able to keep the field for a year he would win great
honour by doing so. No one supported this view
till the turn came to Joinville, who almost alone of
the French was anxious to stay. For he remem-
bered, he tells us, the parting words addressed to
him by his cousin, which reflected the bitter experi-
ence of former crusades. “ You are going over sea;
but take care how you . return. No knight, be he
poor or rich, can return without shame, if he leave in
the power of the Saracens the poor people of God
who have gone in his company.”
Accordingly he now'voted to remain. The King's
treasure, he said, was not exhausted. By its help he
could recruit his forces and keep the field ; and the
198
Saint Louis
[ 1250 -
poor captives, who had otherwise no hope of deliv-
ery, might be rescued from bondage. The Council
was struck silent by his words, and affected to tears;
for not one of them but had kinsmen and dear
friends still prisoners in Egypt. Nevertheless they
held to their desire, and cried down William Beau-
mont, Marshal of France, who spoke on the same
side. Louis closed the Council, saying that he would
announce his decision in a week. During the repast
which followed he sat meditating in silence; then
coming to Joinville, who stood apart at a window,
sorry because the rest covered him with reproaches
and he thought that the King resented his advice,
leaned on his shoulder and talked with him about
the debate. “ Shall I do a bad act if I depart, say
you?” he asked him. “ So may God help me, Sire,
as I think it,” Joinville replied. “And if I stay, will
you stay?” The answer was “Yes.” “Be com-
forted then,” said Louis, “ for your advice pleases
me well. But tell no one for a week.”
At the end of that time he reassembled the Coun-
cil and declared his decision. “My lords, I thank
you all for your advice, whether to go or to stay.
But I think that if I stay my realm runs no danger ;
for Madam my mother has people enough to defend
it. And the barons of this country tell me that, if I
go, all will go with me and the kingdom of Jerusa-
lem be lost. Therefore I am resolved to stay. Those
of you, rich men and knights, who are willing to stay
with me, speak out and tell me your needs :^and I
will give you so much that it will be your fault, not
mine, if you do not remain.”
12543
The Sojourn tn Palestine
199
His words were received with surprise and visible
grief, but did not stir the barons from their purpose.
The King dismissed his brothers in August, nomin-
ally to help the Regent at home and to gather
men and money for his succour. They departed
certainly without reluctance, perhaps at their own’
request, the Count of Anjou at any rate feigning a
sorrow that he did not feel; they were accompanied
or followed by most lords of the army. Louis was
left with the force of Palestine and of the Orders,
and a few Frenchmen, who, thinking with Join-
ville, were willing to remain. These he took into
pay, their own resources being exhausted.
His situation was improved by the weakness of
Egypt, following on revolution, and by the discords
of the Saracen states. The Mamelukes who held
Damascus and Syria refused to recognise the gov-
ernment of Sajareldor, which they had had no part
in establishing, and submitted themselves to Naser
of Aleppo, cousin of the murdered Sultan and chief
of the House of Saladin, now that the Egyptian
dynasty was destroyed. He occupied the country
and sent envoys to Louis at Acre, demanding his
alliance to avenge the death of Moadham, and
promising the restoration of Jerusalem. Louis re-
plied that he had made a truce with the Emirs;
they had broken its terms which he would summon
them to repair; if they refused he would be at lib-
erty and willing to join the Sultan against them.
He despatched John of Valenciennes to Egypt to
demand fulfilment of the treaty.
The Emirs, distrusting female rule, had already
200
Saint Louis
[ 1250 -
caused Sajareldor to take Azaddin Moaz, a Mame-
luke general, as her husband and associate
AD
* in the empire ; and the new Government,
1250, a j armec j by the successes of Naser, was in-
J U dined to execute the bargain with the Christ-
ians. Two hundred knights and a great number of
Octo common P eo P^ e were released and brought
to Acre. With them came an embassy de-
siring friendship and alliance against Aleppo.
The King named his conditions : the delivery of all
prisoners and slaves, even of the children who had
been taken young and brought up in the Mussul-
man religion ; the giving up for burial of the heads of
slain Christians which had been fixed round the walls
of Cairo, some ever since the battle of Gaza ; the remis-
sion of two hundred thousand pounds still owing on
account of the ransom. The rescued knights, a wel-
come addition to his forces, were taken into pay.
He remained at Acre till March of the following
year, strengthening the fortifications and waiting on
the turn of events. During the stay he received an
embassy from the Old Man of the Mountain, who
has been mentioned before. The account is curious,
and illustrates both the unusual courage of the King
and the remarkable position of the Assassin prince.
His envoy was followed by two attendants, carry-
ing knives and a winding sheet, to be delivered as
tokens of death to those who refused his demands.
Being admitted to the King’s presence he asked if
he knew his master. Louis replied that he had
heard of him. “ Then if you have heard of him,”
said the envoy, “ I wonder that you have not sent
1254 ] The Sojourn in Palestine 20 1
presents to make him your friend, as the Emperor
of Germany, the King of Hungary, and the Sultan of
Babylon * do every year ; for they know that they
only live as long as my master pleases. But if you
will not do that, then get him released from the
tribute which he owes to the Temple and the Hos-’
pital, and he will hold you free.” Louis gave no
answer, but told the envoy to return to another
audience in the afternoon. He came, and found the
King sitting between the Masters of the Temple and
the Hospital. Being ordered to repeat his words of
the morning he did so reluctantly and with evident
shame. The Masters rated him soundly, saying that
were it not for respect to the King to whom he was
sent they would drown him in the sea. They com-
manded him to return to his master and come back
within a fortnight with letters and presents to make
satisfaction. This bold treatment was successful.
The ambassador returned within the stated time,
bringing the shirt of the Old Man, as a token, he
said, that the King of France was as near to his mas-
ter’s heart as the shirt is to the body. He brought
also presents of jewels exquisitely worked. Louis
accepted the gifts and sent others in return.
Meanwhile the war between Egypt and Aleppo
was pursued with varying success. Naser invaded
Egypt and came within a day’s march of
Cairo. There he was defeated with heavy
loss in February and fled back to Damascus ; I2 ^ 1
but remained strong enough to repel an invasion in
* That is, the Sultan of Egypt ; Cairo was generally called Baby-
lon by the Westerns at this time.
202 Saint Louis [12S0-
s " _
his turn the following summer. Louis had con-
cluded no engagement with either party, and was
too weak to interfere in the struggle had he wished.
But it left him undisturbed to recruit, to fortify, to
repress disorder, and establish government in the
neighbourhood of the Christian settlements.
At the end of March he went from Acre on a pil-
grimage to Nazareth by way of Cana and Mount
Tabor. Clad in a hair shirt, and fasting the whole
day, he approached the holy place. As it appeared
in the distance he lighted from his horse and fell on
his knees in prayer; then entering on foot, heard
high mass and received the sacrament from his con-
fessor. Immediately afterwards he removed with
his followers to Caesarea, and set himself to restore
that place from the ruin which the Saracens had
made, building a high and thick wall with towers,
ditches, and other defences. There he remained
over a year, except for a few journeys, pressing on
the troublesome and costly work of fortification,
even labouring with his own hands to encourage the
others and gain the indulgences which the Legate
had promised to all who took part.
He was hindered by narrowness of means and
chiefly by want of men. If he had but a reinforce-
ment of two hundred knights, he wrote, he would
be able to make advantage out of the divisions of
the Infidels. His brothers showed little zeal in the
raising and forwarding of succours; and from the
rest of Christendom he received no more help in his
misfortunes than he had in the inception of the
crusade. The Emperor, it is true, sent envoys to
1254 ] The Sojourn in Palestine 203
S ■
the Sultan, on the news of the captivity, to procure
the King’s release ; but the mission arrived too late
and found him already at Acre. Its good faith was
suspected; whether justly, does not appear. The
English King took a more unfriendly attitude, re-
fusing to renew the expired truce except for short
periods, pretending grievances, and reviving his un-
settled-claims. Not that he had the spirit or the
power to pursue them in arms, even had the Pope
not threatened to punish such attempt by an inter-
dict on England ; but the pretext of impending war
was useful in obtaining supplies of money for other
needs from his unwilling subjects. The trading
cities of Italy, Venetians, Pisans, and Genoese, had
their own quarrel with the crusaders and the King,
alleging various losses and wrongs inflicted on them
in course of the expedition, especially at Damietta.
They put themselves right by waylaying the French
on the high seas and robbing or drowning those
whom they caught.
Pope Innocent did not swerve from his strife with
the Emperor on account of the misfortunes of the
Christian cause. Nor did the enmity cease
with Frederick’s death. Innocent ordered *
a crusade to be preached against his sons,
offering larger indulgences than were given
for the crusade of Palestine, while he filled « ^
his coffers by releasing from their vows for a
fine those who had undertaken the latter.
Th^ French Council, indignant that their King should
be weakened and pinched in his adversity, and
Christian swords diverted from his aid to intestine
204 Saint Louis [ 1250 -
strife and the service of Roman ambition, confiscated
the lands of all Frenchmen who joined the papal
army. “ Let those who fight for the Pope live on
the Pope/’ said the Regent
She almost alone remained faithful to her son,
when in the first shock of disaster his reputation
grew clouded even in his own kingdom. She guid-
ed the realm with a steady hand in the moment of
distress and danger. She staved off the English de-
mands and induced her nephew Ferdinand of Castile
to take the cross; death unhappily prevented the
execution of his design. She raised the immense
sums required for the ransom, the war, and the works
to be carried out in Palestine, chiefly by tithing the
revenues of the Church. It was only by aid of these
supplies that Louis was able to keep his footing;
since nearly the whole force with him was serving
for pay and at his cost. During three years* sojourn
the charges of his hostel amounted to a hundred and
sixty thousand pounds ; of fortification to nearly
one hundred thousand pounds ; of the army and
navy to six hundred and twenty-five thousand
pounds. The total of expense was over a million
pounds, a vast quantity of money according to the
standard of those times. In addition to this, one
great convoy of treasure, twenty-two chests of silver,
was lost at sea in a storm. It speaks well for the
riches of France and the strength of the Government
that such heavy exactions were levied with so little
trouble though not without complaints.
But the kingdom was disturbed for a time by a
strange disorder. This was the Shepherds* crusade,
12541
The Sojourn in Palestine
205
as it was called, an agitation among the mass of the
people, which cannot be explained in its causes or
traced to any did inary motive of mankind. Such
frenzies appear to spread by a sort of contagion, and
were perhaps less uncommon, at any rate more
strongly effective, in an age when simplicity and’
ignorance were wider diffused than at present, and
when fewer were accustomed to check the infectious
current of emotion by reasoning and reflection. The
author of the Shepherds' crusade was a renegade
Hungarian monk, who began preaching in France in
the spring of the year 1251. He affirmed that the
Virgin Mary had sent him to call shepherds and
country people to the recovery of the Holy Land ;
and had promised to the humble and weak the suc-
cess which was denied to the mighty and strong in
arms. Fie pretended to hold her written mandate
in his hand, which was closed by a natural deform-
ity. This token, added to his eloquence and ascetic
habits, soon procured crowds of followers. They
passed through the country bearing banners on
which was painted a lamb carrying a cross. Every-
where the labouring people, especially shepherds,
ran to join them, leaving the fields and flocks. Their
numbers were said to amount to a hundred thousand,
women and children as well as men ; they divided
themselves into troops by hundreds and thousands.
Their leaders professed to work miracles and see
visions of angels ; they claimed episcopal authority,
gave blessing and absolution, celebrated marriages,
and conferred the cross. The clergy disfavoured
these unauthorised proceedings ; and so drew on
20 6 Saint Louis [ 1250 -
■ ■*-
themselves the fury of the fanatic preachers, who
reviled bishops and friars and priests alike for greed
and pride and hypocrisy. Their followers joined in
the cry and carried their violence from words to
deeds, wounding and killing all who opposed their
madness, with swords, axes, reaping-hooks, and other
rude weapons which they carried. A detachment
entered Paris, where the Hungarian preached in the
church of St, Eustace, dressed in bishop's robes.
Thence he went to Orleans and was received by the
citizens, though the Bishop forbade any cleric to
hear or join him, under pain of anathema. The
scholars of the University disturbed his preaching ;
they were set on by his partisans and many were
slain. The attack spread to the body of the clergy,
who were killed or driven into hiding and their
houses sacked and burned.
The Regent had refused at first to interfere with
the crusade, approving its object and hoping it
might turn to the King’s advantage. But the
tumults and excesses of the fanatics grew greater.
Their bands were joined by many thieves, outlaws,
and rascals of all sorts, for the sake of impunity and
plunder: and these men easily turned the blind zeal
of the simple multitude to their own purposes. Vil-
lages and even towns were entered and spoiled, the
clergy in particular being robbed and ill-treated.
The report of this caused Blanche to change her
mind, and to take measures to disperse the mob and
to seize and punish its leaders. They were excom-
municated with her consent ; while the laity also
began to treat them as enemies. Meanwhile the Hun-
12541
The Sojourn in Palestine
207
garian with a part of his following came to Bourges,
where they robbed the houses of the clergy who
had fled. They also entered the synagogues of the
Jews, burned their books, and took their goods. The
townsfolk, however, were not deceived by their pre-
tended miracles; and when the news came that they
were excommunicated and outlawed, expelled them ;
and afterwards pursuing, killed the Hungarian and
some others. The multitude, finding no one to lead
or support them, and everything hostile, for the most
part melted away and returned home. A few bands
remaining in different parts were broken up, and the
chiefs taken and hanged or killed by the peasantry.
One troop reached Bordeaux, and was driven away
by Simon of Montfort, governor of Gascony. A
number of the honester sort received the cross afresh
and went to join the King in Palestine.
While Louis was at Caesarea the envoys who went
from Cyprus to the Khan of Tartary returned with
the account of their journey. They had travelled
from Antioch for a whole year through countries
subjugated by the Tartars and full of the traces of
their devastating cruelty. The Khan was dead be-
fore they arrived, and his successor received them as
bearers of the homage of the French King, taking
their presents as tribute and using the mission to
exalt his own glory and power in the eyes of his
vassals, who were bidden to see how strange princes
sent obedience from the ends of the earth. Tartar
ambassadors accompanied them back to Palestine,
with a boastful message that peace was good and
only to be had by favour of the great Khan. They
208
Saint Louis
[ 1250 -
recounted the roll of his enemies who had perished
by the sword, and bade the French seek his friend-
ship and pay yearly tribute of gold and silver, lest
they should be destroyed in like manner. The King
was sorry he had sent, since his overtures were so
r interpreted. About the same time some reinforce-
ment was received from Norway and from other
parts, but of no great strength.
The account which has come down of the King's
behaviour during this time and the rest of his stay
in the Holy Land has helped much to confirm his
fame; and his patient struggle with adverse and
narrow circumstances is the most notable part of
the crusade to those who regard the moral qualities
of action rather than the splendour of the stage on
which it is displayed. Not that his sojourn was
fruitless of achievement, though he was not allowed
to accomplish his dreams. But it is most memor-
able because it afforded scope for the practice of the
virtues, the active piety, the unshaken fortitude, the
boundless charity, which, exercised in such a place
and such a cause, already began to shed round his
character the halo of sainthood.
His messengers were allowed to pass through
Egypt searching out Christian slaves and prisoners.
Those held by the Sultan or who lay in dungeons
were set free ; those who belonged to private persons
were ransomed at the Kings cost. They were
brought to Acre, a hundred, or three hundred, or
five hundred at a time, and being destitute were sup-
plied from the royal bounty with suitable clothing
and a hundred drachmas apiece or more, according to
1254 ]
The Sojourn in Palestine
209
\ 4
r
their condition. The whole number thus relieved
was over three thousand men ; and a much greater
multitude was released, some having been many
years in bondage.
Louis visited the sick in the army constantly dur-
ing the expedition, especially his own servants, with-
out regard to his health. His devotion was exem-
plary, as always. Joinville relates how, after hearing
one mass at daybreak, he rode out into the coun-
try in the early morning to attend another at a small
shrine built to commemorate one of the miracles of
our Lord, scoffing at the danger which at once sug-
gested itself to the mind of his companion. He
preserved an unruffled cheerfulness and a temper
not soured by misfortune, though it was sometimes
tried by the exorbitant demands of his followers.
“I will not take pay,” said Joinville to him at Cae-
sarea, “ but I will make this agreement with you,
that, whatever I ask, you shall not be angry ; and I
on my part will not be angry if you refuse it.”
“When the King heard this,” the writer continues,
“he burst out laughing, and said he would retain me
on those terms ; and he took me by the hand and
brought me to the Legate and his Council, and re-
peated to them the bargain we had made^and they
were very merry at it.” Some time afterwards
Joinville made a request which the King said was
unreasonable. “You have broken our treaty,” said
Joinville, “that you were not to be angry, whatever
I asked.” “ Nay,” said Louis, smiling, “I am not
angry; ask what you please/* But he did not grant
the request.
*4
210
Saint Louis
[ 1250 -
He did justice according to the uses of the coun-
try, showing particular severity towards a knight
found in a brothel, who was sentenced to lose his
horse and armour and be expelled from the camp ;
and towards the Templars, who had made a treaty
"with the Sultan of Aleppo without his leave.. They
were compelled to humble themselves in public and
to renounce the treaty, and the brother who had
negotiated it was banished from Palestine. :
Little tolerance as he had for Infidels, he showed
himself of a mercy and humanity towards them un-
usual in that age. He forbade their women and
children to be slain or maltreated, and was more
anxious to capture his enemies than to slay them,
hoping to effect their conversion. “ God, who
knows all things, knows,” he is reported to have
said on one occasion, “ that if the whole world were
mine, ;I would barter it all for the gain of souls.”
Some of his prisoners were turned to believe ; while
other Saracens, several of high rank, came to him of
their own accord and were baptised after instruction.
The converts were well treated and carried back to
France/ where Louis trusted and enriched them.
He also made an ordinance in Palestine that no one
should revile or reproach renegades who had re-
turned to their faith after escaping from captivity.
At Easter, 1252, the Egyptians accepted the. terms
which had been named eighteen months before, and
a truce for fifteen years was concluded with their
envoys at Caesarea. There was an opposing party
among the French, who thought the King dimin-
ished his honour by alliance with any Infidel ; but
SARACEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN SPARED BY ORDER OF SAINT LOUIS. ^
FROM A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT.
12543
The Sojourn in Palestine
2 1 1
this feeling was less strong than at the beginning of
the crusade, before zeal was tempered with experi-
ence or cooled by misfortune, and it yielded now to
the imperious needs of policy. The Saracens un-
dertook to restore all Palestine this side of Jordan,
except four places ; to give up all Christians whom
they still detained ; to surrender the bones of the
dead for burial ; and to remit the rest of the ransom.
In return the King promised aid against Aleppo.
He was to be at Jaffa with his forces in May, and
the Emirs to be at Gaza by the same time; other-
wise the treaty was null. But their march was de-
layed by a rising of Bedouins : and the Sultan of
Aleppo, having failed to draw Louis over, despatched
fifteen thousand men to the borders to hinder the
junction of his enemies. The Mamelukes, who mus-
tered less than half this number, were afraid to ad-
vance to Gaza; while the King, coming to Jaffa
according to his promise, had only a few hundred
knights and could not go to help them. The Egypt-
ians therefore asked that the time of rendezvous
might be put off ; and meanwhile carried out the
stipulations of the treaty relating to the release of
captives and the restoration of Christian remains.
They also sent the gift of an elephant, which was
afterwards transported to France.
Louis Laving been welcomed to Jaffa by the Count
remained there for a year. His following was en-
camped outside the fortress, which he ^ ^
laboured to strengthen and extend. He ’ *
built a wall right round the outer town from
one sea to the other, with three gates, twenty-four
212
Saint Louis
[ 1250 -
towers, and a moat. The Legate undertook one
gate and a third of the wall ; it cost him thirty
thousand pounds. A church and a convent were
also built within the fortification, and furnished by
. Louis with ail that was needed for service and main-
tenance. As the troops of Aleppo were occupying
the inland country as far south as Gaza, there were
some excursions and skirmishes, with no great dam-
age to either side; except that a foray which the
Master of Saint Lazarus led forth without the King's
knowledge was cut off by the enemy. All save
four men perished ; but a rescue went out when the
news came to camp, and falling on the victors put
them to rout.
During the stay at Jaffa Louis had the opportu-
nity of visiting Jerusalem under the safe-conduct of
the Sultan of Aleppo. But, like Richard of England,
his great-uncle, he refused to look upon the Holy
City which he could not save from the Infidel ; fear-
ing, it is said, lest other princes might cover them-
selves with his example, and think it enough to make
the pilgrimage to the Sepulchre, without attempting
its deliverance.
At the end of this year died Blanche, Queen dow-
ager and Regent of France, worn out with the
labours of an arduous life. Her closing days
* * were embittered by the absence of her best
Not > beloved son, the death of another, and the
28th* ^ ness a third, the Count of Poitiers, who
was struck with paralysis soon after Jiis re-
turn. She had been failing in health for some time,
and was seized with sickness at Melun, whence she
12541 The Sojourn in Palestine 213
was removed to Paris, and then relapsed. A few
days before death she received the vows and habit
of the Cistercian Order. When the end approached
she was carried to a bed of straw, and expired as the
priests commended her soul to God, joining in their
prayers with her last breath. She was buried in her
royal robes, put on over the nun’s dress, with her
crown on her head, in the church of her own foun-
dation at Pontoise. Her heart was afterwards re-
moved from the body and interred beneath the
choir of her other abbey, of our Lady of the Lily,
near Melun.
She was a princess of the highest virtue and tal-
ents ; a devoted wife, and a mother whose children
were the living testimony of her worth. She was
religious in life and conversation, the foundress of
two abbeys, and charitable to the poor. Her temper
was open and resolute and inclined to be arbitrary.
She loved justice above all things and was not
very scrupulous about the means of enforcing it.
She governed the kingdom wisely for many years,
and showed herself equal to great dangers. Her
fault was jealousy of power, which did little harm,
seeing the weakness of royal authority at the begin-
ning of the reign and the continual attempts to en-
feeble it further. She was jealous also of affection,
especially that of her children ; this led to her harsh
treatment of the younger Queen which has been
mentioned. She had a great reputation in her life
throughout Europe ; and a chronicler says that her
death left France deprived of all comfort. Another
adds that it was a great trouble to the common
214
Saint Louis
[ 1250 -
people, since she protected them from the oppression
of the rich and upheld justice.
An incident of her second regency illustrates both
this side of her character and the disregard of legal-
ity which she sometimes showed. The Canons of
* Notre Dame at Paris, having some dispute with their
serfs, had thrown a number of them into their dun-
geon, where they were near dying of hunger and ill
treatment. A complaint was carried to the Regent,
who requested the Canons to release their prisoners,
promising to judge the matter herself and see right
done. The Chapter refused, denying the Queen's
title to interfere in the punishment of their own
peasants, over whom they had power of life and
death. To assert their authority they imprisoned
also the wives and families of the serfs who had
complained. Some of the unfortunate people died
from starvation and overcrowding. When Blanche
heard of it she fell into a rage, and gathering a body
of armed men went to the dungeon of the Chapter
and broke in the doors, herself giving the first blow
with a staff she had in her hand. Having set the
inmates free, she seized the revenues of the Canons
until they made amends, and forced them more-
over to enfranchise their serfs upon payment of a
yearly rent.
The tidings of her death came to Jaffa. The Le-
gate was first to learn it, and taking with him the
Archbishop of Tyre and the royal confessor, drew the
King apart into his chapel and there broke the news.
Louis cried out, and shedding tears fell on his*knees
before the altar. “ Lord God," he said, “ I give Thee
12541
The Sojourn in Palestine
215
thanks that Thou hast left me my mother so long ;
and now hast taken her to Thyself according to Thy
good pleasure. True it is, dear Lord Christ, that I
loved her above all creatures alive, as she well de-
served. But since it is by Thy will that she is dead,
blessed be Thy name/’ The prelates retired and
left him to say the office of the dead with his con-
fessor. For two days he nursed his grief alone,
speaking to no one ; and from that time forth he
heard a private mass for his mother’s soul every day,
except Sundays and Holy days ; and caused many
services to be said for her repose in the churches of
Palestine and France. The Queen showed almost
equal sorrow. Joinville asked why she grieved, for
he knew there was little love between her and
Blanche. She answered that it was not for herself,
but for the King’s sake, and her daughter’s, who was
now left in France without a woman guardian.
In the spring of the next year the Egyptians,
having been attacked by the Sultan of Aleppo and
fought a doubtful battle, made peace with
him, abandoning their unratified treaty with * *
the Christians, who were left to shift for I2 53
themselves. The army of Aleppo returning from
the south, thirty thousand strong, passed within a
few miles of Jaffa, where Louis lay with his little
force of fourteen hundred men-at-arms. The French
crossbowmen harassed their retreat, and on Saint
John’s* day there was a sharp engagement and a
body of cavalry was sent to relieve the bowmen, who
had entangled themselves with the enemy. But as
* That is, Saint John Lateran, May 6th.
2i6 Saint Louis [1250-
soon as they were extricated the King withdrew his
men, fearing the disparity of numbers; while the
Saracens on their side, being straitened for supplies
at the end of a long campaign, continued their re-
treat without assaulting the camp, to the surprise of
'the crusaders. Passing northwards they attempted
to hold Acre to ransom, but were gallantly repulsed
by the Christians of the neighbourhood, who had
retired within the walls.
They then proceeded to Sidon, whither Louis
some time before had despatched workmen, with a
guard of soldiers, to repair the walls. At the enemy's
approach, as the breaches were not yet closed, the
small garrison withdrew to the citadel, which was
very strong and surrounded by the sea, taking with
them as many as could be crowded within its narrow
limits. The Saracens burst into the undefended
town, sacking it and putting the inhabitants to the
sword. More than two thousand were slain. Report
of the disaster reached the King as he was preparing
to fortify an inland place, said to have been a strong-
hold in the wars of the Maccabees, between Jaffa
and Jerusalem. He was much afflicted; and on the
advice of the barons of Palestine, whom experience
had taught that no fortress could be held for long in
a hostile country unless provisioned from the sea,
turned from his first design, in order to repair the
ruin of Sidon. -
He left Jaffa at the end of June and desired to
attack Samaria on the way. But the native barons
again opposed the enterprise, as too distant and*dan«
gerous for the King to expose his person, and with
1254 ]
The Sojourn in Palestine
217
it all their hopes, to the risk of cutting off and de-
struction. It was therefore given up, since Louis
refused to send a detachment where he could not
adventure himself, and the march was continued.
As they lay on the sands near Acre, Joinville relates
that there came a troop of pilgrims from Great Ar-
menia, on their way to Jerusalem under safe-conduct
of the Saracens, and asked him through an interpre-
ter to show them the sainted King. He went to
Louis where he sat in his tent on the ground, lean-
ing against the pole, and repeated their request.
“ But I do not wish, Sire,” he added, “ to kiss your
bones at present.” Louis laughed aloud and bade
the pilgrims be fetched. “ And when they had seen
the King they commended him to God, and he
them.”
When Tyre was reached the King divided his
forces, proceeding himself to Sidon, while he sent a
body to assault the strong place of Belinas, anciently
called Caesarea Philippi, which served the Infidels as
a base for their ravages. He was persuaded with dif-
ficulty not to accompany this expedition himself, and
detached for it nearly his whole force, remaining with
so few that he would have run great danger had the
enemy attacked him. The crusaders took Belinas
by storm, but failed to dislodge the Saracens from
their almost inaccessible fortress in the hills above
the town. After burning the standing crops they
returned to the King.
Meanwhile Louis arrived at Sidon, where his first
care was to give burial to the dead Christians whom
he found still lying in great numbers in the town
2l8
Saint Louis
£ 1250 -
and along the shore. He caused long trenches to
be dug, and hired peasants to collect the bodies and
carry them thither on horses and camels. The work
lasted five days ; and every day from dawn to noon
the King laboured himself with his attendants, gath-
r ering with his own hands the mutilated remains into
vessels and sacks, and conveying them to the place
of burial. The others remarked with wonder that
he showed none of the natural signs of disgust and
repugnance to the loathsome task ; for the corpses
were old and already fetid. When the trenches
were full the Archbishop of Tyre read the burial
service over them, stopping his nose with his vest-
ments against the stench ; so did the other prelates,
and all except the King. The Archbishop in spite
of his precautions fell ill and died three days
afterwards.
The King then began to fortify Sidon, without
interruption from the enemy, enclosing it with a
wail strengthened by towers and ditches. The
Queen having given birth to a daughter, who was
named Blanche, came from Jaffa by sea to join him.
The Christians were comforted at this time by a
false report of the capture of Bagdad by the Tar-
tars. Messengers arrived also from the Prince of
Trebizond, requesting the King to send him a lady
of his Court to wife. Louis answered that there
were none with him; but that he should ask the
Emperor of Constantinople, who was of the lineage
of France, to give him one of his kinswomen ; which
he afterwards did.
The affairs of France, deprived of the prudent
1254]
The Sojourn in Palestine 219
head and vigorous hand which had guided their
course, began to call for the sovereign's return.
Danger gathered in the south and in the north ; and
owing to the illness of Alphonso the chief direction
fell to the Count of Anjou, whose rash, ambitious
temper led him deeper into difficulty. Troubles in'
Gascony, which Simon of Montfort, ill supported
from home, could not suppress, brought the King of
England himself into that country. He took
the opportunity of renewing his connections * *
and intrigues in Poitou and Normandy ; and I2 53
having arranged a marriage for his eldest son with
the sister of the King of Castile, seemed to be pre-
paring an attempt to regain his old losses ; to which
the time was sufficiently favourable, had his capacity
or inclination run with it.
The dispute between the half-brothers of Dam-
pierre and Avesnes has been related already, and the
settlement which w 7 as made by Louis before his cru-
sade. The quarrel was renewed a few years later,
when, William of Dampierre having been killed in a
tourney,* the family of Avesnes broke the award,
and claimed a partition of Flanders. They were
supported by their brother-in-law William, Count of
Holland, who had been elected King of the Romans
and so became suzerain of Hainault. Pretending a
refusal of homage he deprived the Countess Marga-
ret, who took the side of Dampierre, of her fiefs in
the Empire, and authorised John of Avesnes to
occupy Hainault. Both parties called in the help of
their* kinsmen and friends. The Bishops of Cologne
* In April, A„D, 1251,
2 20
Saint Louis
[ 1250 -
and Lidge, the Dukes of Brabant and Guelders, and
other German princes who recognised William, joined
with Avesnes ; Margaret was assisted by the Counts
of Bar and Saint Paul and a number of French
barons. In a battle fought near Walcheren the party
* of Dampierre was defeated with great slaugh-
ter. Thirteen thousand French and Flemish
2253? f e H; Guy and John of Dampierre with the
I2th Count of Bar and all their chief allies re-
mained wounded and prisoners in the hands
of John of Avesnes, who, while he spared his moth-
er's subjects in the rout, ordered no quarter to be
given to the French.
Margaret, after attempting in vain to make terms
with the victors, urged the people of Flanders to
prolong resistance, while she went to seek succour in
France. She approached the Count of Anjou and
tempted him with the offer of Hainault for himself.
Lured by this prize he assembled a considerable
army, with which he entered Flanders ; afterwards
he received the submission of Hainault, and then re-
turned, leaving garrisons in the towns. Early next
year William of Holland marched in great
* * force to repair his brother-in-law's injuries
X2K£ 1 J
D * and his own. Charles met him near Douay ;
but a battle was averted by the mediation of the
Count of Blois and other barons in the French army,
who were related to the family of Avesnes : a truce
was arranged for a time, during which things were
to remain as they were.
The news of the disturbances and dangers which
threatened his realm was brought to Louis, together
- 4 :.
s
v.x::
1254 ] The Sojourn in Palestine 221
with urgent entreaties from the French Council for
his immediate return. The Christians of Palestine,
placed in present security by the fortification of
their cities, no longer pressed him to remain. After
debating the matter and considering it with prayer
and supplication for Divine guidance, he took his
decision to depart Calling Joinville he bade the
Legate, who stood by his side, declare his purpose.
“ Seneschal,” said the Legate, “ the King is much
pleased with your service, and very willing to pursue
your gain and honour. And to set your mind at
ease, he bids me tell you that he has made his pre-
parations to return to France at the coming Easter.”
“God send he may do his will,” answered Joinville.
Afterwards the Legate took Joinville to his lodging.
When they were alone he grasped his hands and be-
gan to weep. “Seneschal,” he said as soon as he
could speak, “ I rejoice and give thanks to God that
the King and you and the rest are escaping from the
great dangers in which you have been here. But I
am sorely grieved that I must leave your holy com-
pany, and go to the Court of Rome, to dwell with
the unfaithful people that are there.” A strange
state of things, that a prince of the Church should
shun the company of his brethren and the supreme
seat of Christendom, and seek righteousness and
good conversation in the camp of a king!
As Easter approached, Louis fitted out such ships
as he had, thirteen in all, in the port of Acre, whither
he Ij^d sent on before his wife and children. He
left a hundred knights behind for the defence of Pal-
estine. The Legate also was determined to stay for
222
Saint Louis
[ 1250 -
another year and spend his remaining money in add-
ing to the fortifications of Acre, that he might re-
turn with an empty purse and a good name. The
clergy, barons, and people of the country escorted
the King to his ship in procession, and took leave of
him with sadness and tears. He obtained by the
Legate’s special grace permission for the Host to be
carried on board his ship — which had never been
granted before to the greatest princes — not only for
the sake of his own devotions, but in order that any
who died on the voyage might not be deprived of
the last sacrament. And in other ways his diligence
was shown to minister to the needs of the sick and
wounded and to comfort their infirmity.
Setting sail from Acre on Saint Mark’s
day they made a course to Cyprus. A fog
coming down from the island, the royal
shipmen mistook their bearings and ran the
vessel on a sandspit. When she struck there
was a panic. The passengers ran together, and were
not reassured to see the sailors clapping their hands
and crying out that they were all dead men. There
was a shout for the galleys which followed to come
up and take off the King, but they did not venture
to approach; which was fortunate, since certainly
they would have been swamped by the terrified
crowd leaping in ; for the great ship carried eight
hundred souls.
The master of the mariners took a sounding, and
discovering the ship to be in deep water, though^fast,
went to tell the King. He found him prostrated in
prayer before the Host, which was kept in a tent on
■ A.D.
1254,
April
25th
1254 ] The Sojourn in Palestine 223
the bridge, whither he had gone when he heard they
were on the point of sinking. The Queen showed
equal courage : when the nurses asked her, should
they wake the children, “No,” she answered, “let
them go to God sleeping.” Their calmness soothed
the fears of the rest. Anchors were cast out for the
night; and in the morning they found themselves
off a rocky and dangerous shore. Divers were sent
down and reported that part of the keel had been
broken away. The mariners advised the King to
leave the vessel and enter another, for the timbers
were sprung, and she would probably be unable to
stand the sea, even if she were got afloat. He asked
his counsellors, who said that in such a matter the
opinion of the sailors must be followed. Turning
again to the latter he bade them tell him, would they
leave the ship, were she their own and filled with
their merchandise. They answered, no ; they would
run the risk; but for him it was different ; he had no
motive to put his life and his family in danger. “ I
have heard your opinion,” said Louis, “ and that of
my own people; and I will tell you mine, which is
this. If I leave the ship, there are five hundred per-
sons and more on board, who fearing the danger —
for all of them love their lives as well as I do mine
— will remain in Cyprus and perhaps never be able
to return home. Therefore I would rather commit
myself and my wife and children into the hand of
God than cause such injury to so great a number.”
Accordingly they set themselves to work the ship
off, and succeeding by help of wind and oars put
into port to repair and provision. How true was the
224 Saint Louis [ 1250 -
King's apprehension was shown by a rich knight of
his company, who fearing to adventure farther re-
mained in Cyprus, and was there a year and a half
before he could get a passage home. The poorer
people would have fared much worse.
The perils of the voyage were not yet over. Be-
fore they got clear of Cyprus a gale of wind arose,
which threatened to drive them back on shore,
though five anchors were thrown out. The Queen
promised a silver ship to Saint Nicholas, and saw in
the falling of the tempest an answer to her vow.
Again, a fire broke out in the Queen's chamber by
the carelessness of her tirewoman, who left a linen
veil hanging over a lighted candle. It was stayed
by Margaret’s presence of mind ; for she awoke as
the flames were spreading, and seizing the burning
stuff in her hands, threw it into the sea, and crushed
out the smouldering sheets. The incident much
disturbed Louis, who from that time ordered all
fires on board, except the great galley fire, to be ex-
tinguished every night, and would not go to bed
until he was assured that this was done.
Joinville relates how the King discoursing with
him pointed the moral of perils of the sea. “ Sene-
schal, God has shown us His great power, since one
of His little winds, not one of the four master winds,
went near to drown the King of France, his wife and
children and all his company. We should give Him
love and thanks for our deliverance from danger.
The Saints say," he went on, “that such tribulations
and great sicknesses and other persecutions which
happen to men are warnings from our Lord. For as
12541
The Sojourn in Palestine
22 5
God says to those who escape from sickness — ‘You
see that I might have caused you to die, had I
willed/ so perhaps He says to us, £ You see that, had
I willed, I might have drowned you all/ And we
ought to examine ourselves, for fear there may be
something in us which displeases Him; and if we
find any such thing, to put it away. For if we do
not so, after the warning He has given us, He will
strike us with death or some great misfortune, and
body and soul will be lost. The Saint says, ‘Lord
God, why do You threaten us ? For if You destroy
us all You will not be the poorer, and if You gain us
all You will not be the richer/ From this we may
see, says the Saint, that God’s menaces towards us
are not to increase His own profit or prevent His
damage ; but merely for the great love He has to us
He wakes us by His menaces, that we may see our
faults cleaidy and put away from us that which dis-
pleases Him. Let us so do,” said the King, “ and
we shall do wisely.”
On the voyage they came to the island of Pan-
tellaria, inhabited by Saracens subject to Tunis.
Three galleys were sent to visit it and buy fruit
for the royal children. They were long in re-
turning, and the sailors began to murmur and beg
the King not to wait ; for they were between Sicily
and Tunis, both unfriendly ; and the Saracens, they
said, had seized the boats with their crews, and
would presently fall upon the ship unless they
escaped under press of sail. Louis refused to think
of deserting his men and ordered the ship’s head to be
set for land. As they drew in to shore the galleys
226
Saint Louis
[ 1250 -
issued from the harbour. It appeared that they
had been detained by six of those on board, sons of
citizens of Paris, who would not leave eating the
fruit which grew abundantly in the gardens. The
King was enraged at their gluttony, which had caused
^ the 'tack to be altered, by which, as it turned out,
several days were lost ; and in spite of their howls
and tears and offers of ransom had them put in the
ship’s boat, the usual place of confinement for crim-
inals, where they remained in great discomfort for
the rest of the voyage.
After ten weeks at sea they came to the port of
Hybres in Provence, belonging to the King’s brother.
Louis desired at first to sail on to Aigues Mortes
and land in his own dominions, but yielded to the
Queen and his companions, who were all anxious to
be ashore. Disembarking, they remained at Hybres
awhile to procure horses for the journey to Paris.
It was here that the Abbot of Cluny coming to the
King with a suit, as Joinville relates, presented him
with two palfreys, worth five hundred pounds. The
next day the King dealt with his business, giving
him long and attentive audience. Afterwards Join-
ville asked whether he had not heard the Abbot
with more favour on account of the palfreys given
the day before. Louis considered for a time, then
answered, “Truly, yes.” “Do you know why I
asked you?” said Joinville. “Why?” said the
King. “ Because it is my advice to you that when
you return to France you should forbid your coun-
cillors to take presents from those who have busi-
ness in your court. For be sure that, if they take
FROM A THIRTEENTH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT.
12543
The Sojourn in Palestine
227
them, they will hear the givers with greater atten-
tion and good will, as you have the Abbot of
Cluny.” Louis approved these observations at the
time, and remembered them afterwards, as appeared
in the instructions issued to his officers.
During his stay, having heard the fame of a
Preaching Friar called Hugh, he called him to his
presence. The friar came, followed by a crowd of
devotees, and preached before the King a sermon
which did not flatter his audience. He inveighed
against the crowd of monks which he saw at Court,
comparing them to fish out of water, and saying that
they would be better in their cloisters, where they
would live at any rate more frugally. Then turning
to Louis he declared that he had read the Scriptures
and also the writings of the heathen, and never found
in any of them that kingdom or lordship had been
lost or changed its master except through the cor-
ruption of justice. “ Therefore let the King take
heed when he goes to France to give his people
good and speedy justice, so that our Lord may suf-
fer him to keep his realm in peace all his life long.”
Louis wished to retain the preacher near him, but
he refused all offers, practising his own precepts.
There were other places, he said, where God would
be better pleased to see him than in a king s house.
He departed next day and went to Marseilles, where
it was reported he worked miracles.
From Hykres the royal party travelled to Aix ;
thence to Beaucaire, and so northward to Paris,
which was reached in September, after six years' ab-
sence. Before entering the capital they visited the
*
228 Saint Louis [1250-1254]
shrine of St. Denis to return thanks for their safety
and make rich offerings to the church. It is related
that the towns received them everywhere
with festivals and rejoicing, for the gladness
I2 ^ men had to see the good King and the good
Queen again ; especially the citizens of Paris made
such a feast as never had been made before.
Amid the general joy and salutations of his people
Louis "appeared sad and depressed. The time of
trial, the necessity of action, that had braced his
spirit and sustained his faith, was over ; and he could
not but reflect that he returned to his kingdom a
broken and defeated man, having spent a vast treas-
ure and wrecked a fine army to little other effect
than enhancement of the power and glory of the In-
fidel. “ If I alone bore the shame and the calamity/'
he replied to a bishop who reproached him for his
gloom, “ I could suffer it ; but alas ! all Christendom
has been brought to confusion through me.” The
remonstrance, however, was not without fruit; and
finding solace in the services of the Church, he re-
sumed after a time his accustomed cheerful temper.
At first he declared that his pilgrimage was not fin-
ished but put off for a season, and a cross was car-
ried before him as he journeyed from the coast.
But the postponement was fated to be long. There
was much to do both at home and abroad ; abuses
to correct, disputes to settle, enemies to ward off or
appease; matters which could not be satisfied and
arranged except by assiduous care and the ^ slow
influence of time.
MANFRED, KING OF SICILY HUGH, DUKE OF BURGUNDY „
CHAPTER IX
FOREIGN POLICY
1254-1270
T OUIS remained in his kingdom and at peace
I j for the next sixteen years, that is, to within
two months of his death. During this time
the French monarchy was at a height of power and
reputation, both at home and in Europe, to which
it. had not attained since the time of Charlemagne.
This may be attributed in part to the results of suc-
cessful war in the two previous reigns and in the
earlier years of the present. But beyond this the
augmentation was owed not to any deep, designing
policy of the King, nor to such eager, inexorable
ambition as had animated his grandfather, but
rather to the respect and veneration which was
earned by the simple holiness of his life and the
manifest integrity of all his actions. The considera-
tion which he enjoyed in his lifetime and bequeathed
to his descendants is a bright example of the truth
that men are attracted and subdued by the sight of
sanctity and moral goodness, not less than by the
greatest splendour of warlike achievement. The in-
stinct therefore was just, which led his people after-
wards to regard him as the heroic type and ideal of
i: -
230 Saint Louis [ 1254 -
their rulers, so that under no title was a French King
ever nearer to his subjects' hearts than as a “son of
Saint Louis."
His conduct during this latter part of his reign
may be considered under three heads : in respect to
his dealings with other princes ; in respect to do-
mestic administration and government ; and in re-
spect to his personal life and behaviour. In all these
he appears to have been impelled, inspired, and
guided by the same motives and sentiments and
rules and principles of action, namely, by those
proper to a devout and faithful Christian. Such a
character, indeed, he may be judged to have chosen
and aimed at before everything else, and to have
attained, as far as any man can be judged from the
proofs which history affords.
A fair field for aggrandisement was opened through
the disputes of the great vassals of the Crown, and
the intestine quarrels which agitated so many parts
of Europe at this period. It would have been pos-
sible to foment these disorders, and taking one side
or the other, to draw advantage and dominion to
France on several borders. But no man was ever
freer than Louis from the reproach of the historian,
who has said that sovereigns in general “ are not so
solicitous that the laws be executed, justice admin-
istered, and order preserved within their own king-
doms, as they are that all three may be disturbed
and confounded amongst their neighbours ; as if their
religion were nothing but policy enough to make all
other kingdoms but their own miserable.” * Con-
* Clarendon, History of the Rebellion , ii 0 , 420.
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231
Foreign Policy
trary to this kind of policy, Louis endeavoured con-
stantly to appease the disputes of other rulers with
their subjects or with one another. Peace was his
great desire for all, not only for himself: he was
above all things a peacemaker. “ When he heard
there was war between princes outside his realm,”'
writes a contemporary chronicler, “ he sent solemn
embassies to reconcile them, at great expense.”
“He frequently sent envoys, wise and discreet men,”
writes another, “ to make peace and concord between
his neighbours, and so bent them to agree.” “ He
was a man,” says Joinvilie, “who took the greatest
trouble in the world to make peace between his sub-
jects, and especially between the great men and
princes in his neighbourhood.” Some of his Coun-
cil, it is related, deprecated his efforts, saying that if
he let them go on fighting they would impoverish
themselves, and be less able to attack him. “ No,”
replied the King, “for if the princes, my neighbours,
see that I leave them to fight with one another, they
may take counsel together and say, ‘The King leaves
us to fight through malice.’ So it will fall out that
they will attack me on account of the hate they will
bear me, and I shall be the loser, without reckoning
that I shall gain God’s hatred, Who says, ‘ Blessed
are peacemakers.’ ”
He extinguished the war in Flanders soon after his
return, of which it had been in part the cause ;
the more easily as the death of William of * *
Holland deprived the House of Avesnes of
their chief support. The former settlement
was reaffirmed, that Hainault should fall to Avesnes
232
Saint Louis
[ 1254 -
and Flanders to Dampierre. Charles of Anjou was
compelled to renounce the donation of Hainault,
which had brought him into the quarrel, and
e P 8 to be content with a payment of a hundred
^ and sixty thousand pounds, charged on the
"Flemish revenues of Countess Margaret, who had
invited him.
A harder matter was the old dispute with the Eng-
lish King, which had its root in the inveterate de-
sire of the Plantagenets to recover their continental
dominion. This ambition, never eradicated, was now
lulled for a time and laid to sleep, only to wake
again seventy years afterwards and inflict much war
and misery on France. When the King returned,
Henry of England was still in Gascony, having sub-
dued his rebels after allying himself by marriage
to the King of Castile, on whose help they relied.
Wishing to escape the long sea voyage, and also to
see the great towns of France, which he had never
visited, and the King's chapel at Paris, he asked and
obtained leave to travel home that way. He came
AD t0 ^ eans ’ received by royal command
with great pomp and festivity in the country
through which he passed ; thence to Char-
tres, where Louis met him. The Kings embraced
affectionately and had much conversation together.
Four sisters, the Queens of France and England, the
Countesses of Cornwall and Anjou, and their mother,
the Dowager of Provence, were again united in this
meeting after long separation. Attended by an im-
mense cavalcade they proceeded to Paris. The city
adorned itself to welcome them and filled its streets
1270 ]
Foreign Policy 233
with music and rejoicing. Every quarter was de-
corated with flowers by day and illuminations at
night. The University, where many English studied,
suspended its lectures that the scholars might take
part in the reception. Louis entertained his guest
magnificently, and himself escorted him to visit the
Holy Chapel and the relics and other churches of
the city, where they made offerings and prayers.
Afterwards they dined in public at the Old Temple.
“ Never was so noble and splendid a banquet in
the days of Assuer, Arthur, or Charlemagne/' says
the English chronicler. Louis sat in the place of
honour, as first of earthly kings ; England was on
his right, Navarre on his left. He would have
yielded the middle seat to his guest, but Henry re-
fused it, saying, “ You are my lord." Below them
sat twenty-five great dukes and counts, twelve
bishops, and a vast number of barons and knights.
Eighteen countesses were present. All the doors
stood open and unguarded, that anyone who chose
might enter. After the feast the King of England
distributed silver cups, silken girdles, and other pre-
sents to the French nobles. He remained eight
days, admiring the buildings of Paris, the great
bridge, and the houses of four stories faced with
plaster. The crowds which flocked to see him flat-
tered his pride, and were charmed by his liberality.
As the King's guest, and husband of the Queen's
sister, he enjoyed a reflection of their popularity and
a favour among the French which he did not find at
home. He was well pleased to be exalted in the eyes
of his own people, whom their sovereign's triumph
f
2 34 Saint Louis [ 1254 -
gratified as their own. Before parting Louis
expressed his desire to be friends, dwelling on the
close kinship between their children, and lamenting 1
that the feeling of his barons prevented him from
satisfying the English claims of territorial restitution.
Though these claims delayed a complete reconcil-
iation, the truce was maintained and prolonged, and
Henry refused, after his visit, to aid John of Avesnes
in Flanders. He continued, however, for some time
longer to urge his rights, without any result, except
that the French King took steps to strengthen his
authority in Normandy, fortifying castles and towns,
setting trustworthy persons in office, and marrying
his Norman wards to Frenchmen. But where one
party was bent on peace and the other could gain
nothing by war, a way of settlement was found. A
solemn embassy came from England in the autumn
of 1257; the Bishops of Worcester and Winchester,
Peter of Savoy, the Earls of Leicester arid Norfolk
and others. They recited the deprivation of his
ancient rights which their master suffered; the
enmity and bloodshed caused through the last fifty
years, and still threatening in the future ; the loss
to both kingdoms, and the expediency of closing
the feud, which could best be done, they said, by re-
storing the provinces taken from King John. The
French Princes and the barons of the Council re-
garded such a surrender as impossible, and said so
in scornful and impatient terms. But the King
answered mildly that he would refer the question to
his Parliament next Easter. The envoys returned, .
leaving the Abbot of Westminster to negotiate.
1270 ]
2 35
1 Foreign Policy
Their ‘demand had been put forward, not in the
hope that it would be granted, but to clear the way
to a compromise, which Louis alone in his kingdom
was ready to make. A new embassy came in the
spring and brought the matter to an issue.
The treaty was made at Paris. Perigord, ^.D.
Limousin, and part of Saintonge were re- 5 >
stored to the English, besides the reversion ^ ^
of Agenais and Quercy, which being ancient
dependencies of Guyenne, granted to the Counts
of Toulouse, would lawfully escheat to the suzerain
after the death of the Countess of Poitiers, heiress
of that line. Certain payments of money were also
promised on various accounts. On his part the
English King renounced his claims to Normandy
and all the other provinces conquered from his
House; and promised to pay homage for Gascony
and Guyenne. Thus at length the greater share of
the Plantagenet dominions was secured to the
French Crown by cession as well as conquest.
The treaty was carried against the opposition of
the French barons. Their arguments have been
reported. “Sire, we marvel much that you should
be willing to give up to the King of England so great
a part of your lands, which you and your fathers
have conquered, and which his father lost by judg-
ment of forfeiture. For if you hold that you have
no right, we think that the restitution is not good,
unless you restore all that was conquered ; and if
you hold that you have right, we think that you
lose that which you now restored Louis replied
that he knew the King of England had no right to
[ 1254 -
236 Saint Louis
the land, nor did he restore it as being bound to do
so. “ I do it to make love between my children and
his, who are first cousins. It is fitting therefore
that there should be peace between them, and that
the kingdoms should not be wasted any longer and
men spoil and slay one another and go down into
hell. Besides I gain great honour by this peace ;
for the King of England enters my homage and be-
comes my liege man, which he was not before.”
In spite of this justification it may be suspected
that the concession was made on a point of con-
science rather than of calculation. In any case it
fitted with the consistent policy of Louis, and was
not disadvantageous to his Crown. The surrender
of outlying territories, neither rich nor populous,
was balanced by the formal recognition of the Kings
right over nearly all the conquests of his predeces-
sors ; by the submission of Gascony and Guyenne
to his suzerainty ; and by the establishment of peace
with England for. the first time in half a century.
The claim on Normandy was a constant menace as
long as it was maintained. At the moment it was
little to be feared in the hands of Henry, who was
incapable and troubled at home. But a wiser and
more warlike successor might be more favourably
placed to enforce it. The recent election of Rich-
ard of Cornwall to the Empire* suggested the
thought of a new coalition, such as had threatened
to destroy Philip Augustus. It was not prudent to
reckon on a continuance of weakness and division in
the adversaries, or of merit and good fortune in the
* He was elected in the "beginning of 1257,
1270 ]
m
Foreign Policy
rulers of France. Two courses of policy were open ;
to make a peaceful arrangement with the English
King while his feebleness inclined him ; or to press
the hour of advantage and drive him altogether
from the realm. The latter was more dangerous
and doubtful, even had it suited with the character
of the King.
The treaty having been ratified, Henry crossed
into France in the winter of the following year with
his Queen and a great train of nobility, and
spent Christmas at Paris after paying horn- * '
age for his duchy of Guyenne. The rejoic- I2 59
ings of the visit were marred by the death of Louis,
heir to the French Crown, in his sixteenth
year, a cause of grief to his parents and to * *
all the world, for he was a prince of much 5
promise. Henry assisted to bear the body J
A j j nary
to its funeral, and remained in France till
the following April.
It is related that the inhabitants of the surren-
dered provinces were deeply discontented at the
change of rule; and that the tradition of their
resentment caused them to refuse many years after-
wards to celebrate the feast-day dedicated to Louis
when he died and was canonised. Be that as it may,
they had good reason to complain that they were
transferred from the mild and orderly dominion of
the King to the weak, irregular government of Guy-
enne, in which oppression was tempered by turbu-
lence. „
Louis was no less pacific in dealing with his other
neighbours, confirming their friendship by the
238
Saint Louis
[ 1254 -
marriages of his children. He balanced the English
alliance with Castile by betrothing his eldest son
to the daughter of Alphonso X. ; but the
A.D. pence’s premature death prevented the con-
I2 ^ elusion of the marriage. The connection
was renewed at the end of the reign, when the
Princess Blanche was married to Ferdinand,
heir of Castile, and became by him mother
9 of the Infants of Cerda, whose misfortunes
are celebrated in Spanish history.
The Kings of France and of Aragon had ancient
conflicting pretensions to the suzerainty of terri-
tories lying beyond their natural boundary of the
Pyrenees and surrounded by each others dominions.
Barcelona, Roussillon, and other parts of Catalonia
had fallen within the Spanish March of Charlemagne,
and were still asserted to be fiefs of France, which
had long ceased to exercise there even the shadow
of authority. On the other side the House of Ara-
gon claimed, through inheritance or cession, lordship
over Beziers, Carcassonne, and most of the county
of Toulouse. They had drawn their relations with
Languedoc closer in the time of the heresy, support-
ing the native magnates against the crusaders and
receiving their homage. Since then they appeared
tenacious of their right and disposed to take any
opportunity of reviving it. But Languedoc was now
brought by the result of war and treaty partly under
the King's hand, partly under that of his brother, who
had inherited Toulouse on the death of Count Ray-
mond in 1249. The claims of Aragon were denied,
but a settlement was effected in 1258. The two
1270 ]
t
239
Foreign Policy
Kings mutually renounced their pretensions ; and to
strengthen the peace a marriage was arranged be-
tween Philip, second son of Louis and King after
him, and Isabel, daughter of King James of Aragon.
After this treaty the friendship of the kingdoms was
not broken, though it was clouded for a moment six
years later by a dispute of jurisdiction. An
Aragonese embassy complained that the ^.D.
royal seneschal of Beaucaire had cited before ^
his court citizens of Montpellier, which their master
claimed in full sovereignty. Louis did not admit
the pretension, but answered graciously, expressing
his regard for the King of Aragon, whose love he
valued so much, he said, that rather than lose it he
was willing to waive his right. He offered to sus-
pend the action of his officer, and to submit the
matter to the judgment of Cardinal Fulcodi, a Nar-
bonese by birth. The ambassadors, who had begun
by professing the greatest amity and respect, fell to
reiterating and pressing their unreasonable demands,
and finally uttered threats of war. But the King
was not to be moved, and repeated his answer with
the same graciousness as before. They departed ill
content, but the conduct of their prince was more
moderate than his language, and no attempt at force
followed.
By other marriages, of his daughter Isabel to the
King of Navarre, of Margaret to the heir of Brabant,
and of his son John to Yolande of Burgundy, Louis
strengthened and secured the borders of his realm.
He did not meddle in the affairs of Germany, except
to favour and support the election of Alphonso of
240 Saint Louis [ 1254 -
Castile to the Empire, as policy demanded, since
the success of the other candidate, Richard of Corn-
wall, would have reinforced the English con-
nection in Europe too much for safety. But
I2 ^7 both the rivals were contented with a nom-
inal dignity, and the German princes, without a
head or union among themselves, were occupied
within their own borders, and were neither friends
nor enemies to France.
French neutrality, so long preserved, was infringed
in the last stage of the struggle between the Popes
and the House of Hohenstaufen. The hope of empire
deserted that family with the death of Frederick II.
and of his legitimate sons ; thus far the Apostolic
See was victorious. But his bastard Manfred occu-
pied the hereditary kingdoms of Naples and Sicily ;
and his grandson Conradin remained alive, a seed
from which the power and glory of the hated line
might rise again and flourish. Unable to expel
Manfred by their own force, the Popes offered his
dominions to the princes of Europe at the price of
conquest, Louis was too scrupulous to enforce so
questionable a donation and refused it for himself
or his children. Manfred indeed was in his eyes an
outlaw. But the dormant right of Conradin stood
in the way, and, even were that excluded, a previ-
ous acceptance by the English Prince Edmund.
Charles of Anjou was less nice, and to him
* * Pope Urban IV. transferred the gift. He
^ was a prince whose restless spirit ancj ambi-
tion overriding honesty resembled the disposition of
his grandfather rather than that of his brother. He
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Foreign Policy
241
had already been the cause of trouble ; first by his
enterprise in Flanders; then by the eagerness with
which he vindicated his authority in Provence and
sought to extend it over the city of Marseilles, which
twice revolted against him/* The persuasion of his
wife, who saw her three sisters Queens, is said to have
incited him further to seek a crown. By the Pope's
support and by his brother's permission he gathered
an army and treasure in France. The war was
preached as a crusade, and the clergy were taxed to
furnish it. He reached Italy by sea, and defeated
Manfred, who was killed in battle.f But his exac-
tions and the faults of his followers raised rebellion
in the conquered kingdoms; and the young Con-
radin, coming from Germany, reclaimed his inher-
itance in arms. Fortune deserted the bold
attempt. Conradin was beaten in the field, x
taken prisoner, and executed publicly at
Naples together with the principal of his allies.
Authorities differ, how far Louis gave aid or coun-
tenance to this undertaking. It is fair to say that
he had not the power to command his brother, who
was independent in his principality of Provence;
that the business was backed by the whole authority
of Tome ; that, though Conradin had rights to be
respected, they were never in force. The attack was
on Manfred, who had dispossessed him ; and Charles
could reasonably be regarded not as the invader of
a legitimate sovereign, but as champion of the
Church against a usurping ruler and an heretical
* In 1257 and 1262.
|The battle of Beneventum, February 26, 1266.
1 6
242
Saint Louis
c
[ 1254 -
and rebellious people. The King could not foresee
how the matter would turn out ; or that Charles, by
murdering his prisoner and the lawful heir, would
bring such infamy on his name as no other prince of
_ his race has incurred.
But to put this question aside and return to the
general conduct of Louis, it can be said that his
justness of mind and temper, his love of peace and
his strict regard for right, entitled him to become the
arbitrator of all his neighbours. Returning from Pal-
estine he found the Duke of Brittany at issue with
Theobald of Navarre and Champagne, son and suc-
cessor of the prince* who has been often mentioned in
this narrative. It was his first task to reconcile them.
Theobald having asked his daughter in marriage, he
refused to let the matter proceed till the dispute
with Brittany was settled. “ For it shall never be
said,” he declared, “that I marry my children by
disinheriting my barons.” When this was reported
to the King of Navarre he consented to satisfy the
Duke’s just claim, and the marriage was thereupon
concluded.
During these years the King also mediated suc-
cessfully between the Count of Chalons and his
son, the Count of Burgundy; between the Kings
of England and Navarre ; between the latter and
the Count of Chalons ; between the Counts of Bar
and Luxemburg ; the disputants in each case being
persuaded to stop the predatory war which had
already broken out, and to commit the settlement
* Theobald IV. of Champagne and I, of Navarre died at Pampe-
luna July 8, 1253.
1270]
243
Foreign Policy
of their differences to his decision. Even the Greek
Emperor, Michael Palaeologus, invited his interven-
tion in the negotiations which he was carrying* on
with the Pope for the union of the Churches, offer-
ing to accept him as referee in the debate.
But the most striking proof of his reputation is
afforded by the agreement of the English King and
his barons to make him the judge of their quarrel.
No monarch could strive to compose the affairs of
his own realm with more zeal, diligence, and integ-
rity of purpose, than Louis applied to assuaging the
dissensions of a neighbouring and lately hostile
state. He had already concerned himself in the
matter for some years before the arbitration. At
the time that the treaty of Paris was ratified, the
leagued barons, who were preparing to take strong
measures against the intolerable misrule of Henry
and the rapacity of his foreign favourites, deputed
envoys to the French King to bespeak his
favour or neutrality. By the provisions
passed in the Parliament of Oxford the same 5 >
year they drew to themselves the chief pre- ^
rogatives and authority of government. The for-
eigners were expelled, and crossing into France got
a cold welcome from the King, who refused at first
to allow them passage through his dominions. But
Henry, in the visit which followed, persuaded his
brother-in-law, no doubt, that he had been wrpnged.
Louis himself had felt the encroachment of powerful
vassals. He had a high opinion of kingly right, which
the tradition and experience of his House taught him
to regard as the bulwark of peace and order, and he
244
Saint Lotus
[ 1254 -
was shocked to see it abrogated and overthrown. Ac-
cordingly, when Henry on his return repudiated the
provisions of Oxford, he was promised, and received,
succour from France. In the struggle of arms and
intrigue which ensued Louis endeavoured on several
occasions to mediate; but the aims and interest of
the opposing parties diverged too much for a settle-
ment. It is great testimony to his fame that, in
spite of the leaning he had shown towards the prin-
ciple at any rate of the King’s contention, the barons
engaged themselves at last to accept his arbitration.
The court was held at Amiens in January of 1264.
The King and Queen of England attended with their
son and the Archbishop of Canterbury and others
of their party ; on the other side a great number of the
confederated barons. Louis heard the pleadings and
arguments, and after considering them at length with
his Council delivered judgment. He held that the
effect of the provisions of Oxford was to deprive the
King of England of his crown and whole authority.
He pronounced therefore that they were null and void,
the oaths which sanctioned them having been an-
nulled already by the Pope ; that the acts done under
them should be revoked ; and the castles which had
been given up as their guarantee restored. That the
King should appoint his own officers and council-
lors ; should be free to employ foreigners if he chose
without consent of the barons ; and generally should
enjoy the power and prerogative which he possessed
in former times. But the charters, liberties, and cus-
toms valid in England hitherto were not to be in-
fringed. There should be a mutual amnesty and
1270 ]
245
Foreign Policy
abstention from future encroachment on either side.
Such a decision was to be expected from the King
of France. He respected existing rights, which the
provisions destroyed. He knew the evils of anarchy
and the disorders of a turbulent baronage better than^
those which are caused by an ill-governing monarch ;
and scarcely believed perhaps that his brother of Eng-
land, whose prayers and almsgivings he admired so
much, was rapacious, faithless, and irregular towards
his subjects. Moreover, the character of his nation,
opposite to the English, has always set the benefits
of authority higher than those of freedom.
Fortunately for the liberties of England the barons
did not abide by his verdict. He did not, however,
relax his efforts for peace, or withhold his protection
from either side in its hour of disaster. He assisted
the fugitive English Queen with men and money ; and
after the defeat of the reformers he urged and per-
suaded Henry to grant pardon on easy terms to the
widow and sons of Simon of Montfort, their leader.
In the later years of his reign Louis was the gen-
eral refuge of the injured or oppressed. The Gas-
cons appeal to him, instead of to their own sovereign,
to save them from the barons who plunder them.
The merchants of Aragon, suffering from English
pirates, seek and obtain redress through his inter-
vention. The people of Burgundy and Lorraine, to
whom he had given peace, “so loved and obeyed
him,” writes Joinville, “that I have seen them come
to ptead causes of dispute which they had among
themselves before the King in his court at Rheims
or Paris or Orleans.”
THE COUNT OF FLANDERS
ENQUERRAND OF COUCY
CHAPTER X
INTERNAL AFFAIRS
1254-1270
I T would not be within the scope of the present
work to examine at length, or with an exact
inquiry into details, the constitution of govern-
ment in France during this period, its nature,
changes, and development; to trace the steps by
which royal authority was increased ; to follow the
growth of the King’s courts, the spread of the King’s
justice, and the extension of his administrative pow-
ers. Louis was little concerned in all this. His
own greatness, the enhancement of his sovereign
supremacy, was the last thing he aimed at. But
while he desired that his people should be governed
well and orderly, that justice should be done and
wrong repressed and grievances remedied, his en-
deavours directed to this end drew after them unre-
garded consequences. He neither inaugurated nor
even consciously developed a system of government ;
but taking that which was left by his predecessors
carried it on in good faith and uprightness, using
the power which he found in his hands for what he
246
1254 - 70 ]
• Internal Affairs 247
held t6 be the glory of God and the happiness of
his subjects ; and by this means perhaps, served the
monarchy better than if he had set himself to in-
crease its power and widen its effective control,
without regarding the rights of others. Of his own
rights he was tenacious, as became a King appointed*
to rule by Heaven, which he esteemed himself to
be ; but did not intend or desire to stretch them be-
yond existing limits ; and if the plant of royal pre-
rogative grew and flourished and sent branches
abroad, it was rather due to an innate principle of
life and expansion than to any care or cultivation of
his.
“ Fair son,” he said, as he lay on a sick-bed, to his
eldest son Louis, “ I pray you make yourself loved
by the people of your realm : for I would rather a
Scotsman came from Scotland and governed them
well and loyally, than that you should govern them
ill.” His own conduct was suited to this profession,
as the words of a chronicler writing some years after
his death bear witness. “ Long time King Louis
governed the realm of France well and in peace, like
the wise and loyal man he was, without taxing the
commons and townsfolk more than reason. Very
rich and peaceful was France in his time,”
The chief public care which occupied him was the
good administration of justice, the first blessing per-
haps which a strong and regular government bestows,
as its corruption is the worst and most odious evil.
In his reign the Parliament of France, a meeting of
the great persons of the kingdom, which besides de-
bating and advising about affairs of state used to
248
Saint Louis
0254 -
judge appeals and other considerable cases p’ertain-
ing to the King's jurisdiction, began to be convoked
regularly at Paris for the latter purpose three or four
times a year, at Candlemas, Whitsuntide, and All
Saints, and sometimes at the Nativity of the Virgin.
This change of habit and function brought on an-
other in the constitution of the assembly. Not only
the high officers but the secretaries and privy coun-
cillors of the Crown were already accustomed to sit
there by the side of prelates and barons. Being for
the most part men versed in canon or civil law they
drew the judicial business of Parliament into their
own hands; and as this increased over the rest
and the sittings were multiplied and prolonged, the
magnates lay and ecclesiastic, who had no aptitude
and no liking for such work, withdrew or were no
longer summoned, except on special occasions when
matters important to the realm or their own priv-
ileges were to be considered. The lawyers were left
in possession ; and Parliament started to become the
supreme court of justice in France, instead of the
great Council representing the powerful members of
the realm.
All professional bodies, and most of all the legal,
are inclined to enlarge as much as possible the
range of their activity ; and, with the dominance of
that caste in Parliament, the scope of jurisdic-
tion was extended by assertion of the right to hear
appeals from the courts of the vassals. Such right
of revision was claimed and exercised during the
reign in cases from Guyenne and Brittany, to men-
tion no others. The reputation of the King and of
SAINT LOUIS RECEIVING! THE SACRAMENT.
FROM A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT,
12701
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249
the councillors who directed his judgment made it
the more easily allowed,
A more frequent resort to the courts was induced
also by two ordinances which Louis enacted, not to
diat end but in his love of peace and justice. It
was still the custom of the age, inherited from more
lawless times, that even the lesser barons should set-
tle their quarrels by private war and ravage of one
another’s land. The King limited and in the end
forbade this practice, which was discouraged by the
Church and a great hindrance to the prosperity of
the realm. By another custom equally ancient it was
allowed to either party in a suit to contest the
judge’s decision, appealing not to a superior court
but to the issue of single combat. The origin of
such duels was supposed to be in a reference to
Divine judgment ; but Pope Innocent IV. had al-
ready denounced them as a temptation of
God. Moreover, they were frequently per-
verted to the advantage of the rich and I2 49
powerful, who in disputes with poor or humble ad-
versaries were able to gain the best champions to
fight in their quarrel. For these reasons the King
ordained with consent of his Parliament that
the appeal to combat should be abolished, Z*
and cases proven by the oath of witnesses,
documents, pleading, and the other customary meth-
ods. The consequence of the ordinance was that if
a suitor were discontented with the verdict his only
remedy lay in appeal to the higher, that is, the royal
courts. It was impossible, however, to enforce these
two salutary measures beyond the royal domain;
250
Saint Louis
[ 1254 -
f
and the first was opposed even there as an infraction
of feudal privilege. The evil was repressed but by
no means destroyed, and sprang up again in subse-
quent reigns.
Louis' was present regularly at the sessions of Par-
liament. In addition he occupied himself contin-
ually in hearing and deciding cases and complaints,
in which he was assisted by the men of experience
and integrity whom he kept near him. “ When he
returned from chapel/' writes Joinville, “he used to
send for us, and seating himself on the foot of his
bed, while we sat round, asked if there were any
cases which we could not settle without him. When
we named them, he would call the suitors before
him and ask them, ‘ Why do you not take what my
people offer you ? ' ” When they said it was not
enough he would urge them to accept a fair and
reasonable compromise. “ Often he went after mass
to the wood of Vincennes," the writer continues,
“where he sat under an oak and we round him.
There all who had business came to speak to him
without hindrance. Then he asked, 4 Has anyone a
suit?’ ; and those who had suits rose up. Then he
said, 'Keep quiet and your cases shall be judged in
order.' Then he called my lord Peter des Fontaines
and my lord Geoffrey de Villete and said to one of
them, 'Judge me this case.' And when he saw any-
thing to amend in the pleading of those who spoke,
whether on his own side or another's, he would
amend it out of his own mouth. I have seen him in
*•
summer-time come to his garden in Paris to deliver
judgments, dressed in a coat of camlet and a stuff
1270] 9 Internal Affairs . 251
surcoat without sleeves, with a scarf of black cendal
round his shoulders, well combed and unbonneted,
wearing a cap with a white peacock's feather on his
head. He had a carpet laid for us to sit round him,
and all the people came who had business before
him. There he caused judgments to be rendered in
the same way I have told you of in the wood of
Vincennes."
Louis gave these public audiences twice a week,
that access might not be denied to the poorest. He
stood for the weak against the strong and for others
against himself, sometimes arguing on the opposite
side when crown cases were heard, that the judges
might be less disposed to twist the law in his favour.
His justice knew no respect of persons. “ Toward
greater misdeeds," we are told, “he showed himself
stern and inflexible, however high the offender.” If
it was one of his own household he was careful to
punish the crime more severely than usual. More
than once he curbed the arbitrary dealing of his
brother Charles. In particular the case of a knight
is related, whom the Count of Anjou had con-
demned in his court, on his own suit, and had thrown
into prison because he appealed to the King. Louis
hearing of it summoned Charles and gave him a
rebuke. “ I will teach you," he said, “ that there is
only one King in France. Do not think that be-
cause you are my brother I will spare you in any
injustice." He caused the knight to be released,
assigned him advocates to plead his cause, and after
full trial broke the former sentence.
From such impartial rigour lesser culprits could
252 Saint Louis # 0254-
not hope to escape. A woman of high rank in Pon-
toise, who was condemned, according to law, to be
burned for murdering her husband, was unable to
obtain a reprieve. Though the Queen herself
begged that at least the execution might be in priv-
ate, Louis refused, being advised by Simon of Nesle
that good justice must be public justice. Simon re-
membered, perhaps, that when there had been a
question of executing one of his own vassals secretly,
to avoid scandal, on the request of his kinsmen, the
King had declared that he would have justice done
on criminals throughout his realm openly and in
face of the people. The Count of Joigny, who
seized a townsman for some offence and refusing to
surrender him to the royal justice threw him into a
dungeon where he died, was himself imprisoned.
John Britaut, accused of killing the son of a poor
knight with whom he had a quarrel, was kept in
prison for a year, spite of his riches and many
friends, till an inquiry into the case could be con-
cluded ; nor would Louis deliver him to the Count
of Champagne, who also claimed jurisdiction, fear-
ing lest justice might be overcome in another court
by the same influences which had assailed it in his
own.
The case of Enguerrand of Coucy, son of the En-
guerrand who had plotted against the Crown, made
more noise, owing to the eminence of the
• • culprit. Three Flemish boys of noble birth,
I2 59 w h 0 were being educated in a neighbouring
abbey, having gone out to shoot rabbits with bow
and arrow were led by their sport to trespass on the
1270]
# Internal Affairs
253
woods of Coucy. They were caught by the forest-
ers; and Enguerrand ordered them to be hanged
without inquiry or trial. The abbot and their kins-
men complained to the King, who cited Enguerrand
before his Parliament at Paris. He came demand-
ing to be judged by his peers. But the House of
Coucy, which in its pride of birth and power scorned
the support of rank, was proved to have alienated
to a younger branch the fiefs which carried its
barony. The demand was rejected therefore; En-
guerrand was arrested, not by nobles or knights, but
by the yeomen of the household, and confined in
the tower of the Louvre. A day w r as fixed for his
trial. The magnates of the realm, who esteemed
him their equal and were for the most part allied to
his blood, gathered to attend. Among them came
the King of Navarre, the Dukes of Brittany and
Burgundy, the Counts of Bar and Blois and Sois-
sons, the Archbishop of Rheims, and the Countess
of Flanders. When the court assembled and the
case was heard Enguerrand could not deny the
facts. Leave was given him to withdraw and con-
sult with his kinsmen. As he went out nearly all
the princes and barons rose and followed ; the King
was left alone with his privy councillors. By advice
of his supporters the prisoner demanded the ordeal
of battle, through the mouth of John of Thorote.
It was refused on the ground that precedent ex-
cluded it, where one party so much exceeded the
other Jn power and position. The Duke of Brittany
insisted, but was reminded that he had been of a
different opinion when his own vassals, appealing to
254
Saint Louis
[ 1254 -
the royal court, had offered a similar challenge.
Louis was at first inclined to pronounce sentence of
death. But he was turned from this by his own
doubts and the prayers of the barons, who could
none of them be brought to give an opinion on the
case, but only urged the need of mercy. He con-
demned Enguerrand to pay a fine of ten thousand
pounds; to build chapels and endow masses for the
souls of the murdered ; to lose his rights of high
justice and forestry; and to pass three years in a
crusade. The last penalty was commuted by the
King's consent for a payment of twelve thousand
pounds towards the succour of Palestine.
“This affair was a great example of justice to
other kings," writes a chronicler, “ seeing that a
man of such noble lineage, accused by poor and
simple folk, barely escaped with his life before the
lover and upholder of right." But the wrath of the
barons was great. u The King will do well to hang
us all," said John of Thorote among them. The
words were reported to Louis, who sent for and
questioned him. “How say you, John? That I
will hang my barons? Assuredly I will not hang
them, but I will chastise them if they do evil."
It was natural they should murmur at so unusual
an assertion of justice over privilege; for a common
interest made them jealous of interference even with
abuses of the power which their order possessed.
The note of their discontent is sounded again in
ballads of the time denouncing the attempt ta abol-
ish trial by battle. But though particular points
might touch them on the raw, the King's general
12703
Internal Affairs
255
conduct compelled their respect. They recognised
that his aim was single ; and could not but acknow-
ledge that he was even tender to their claims, except
where the interests of justice required strict enforce-
ment of his own. On many occasions he checked
the zeal of his officers in different parts of the realm,
when they seemed to be -stretching their jurisdiction
or pressing a doubtful right of the Crown against a
neighbouring lord or prelate or township. What
struck even more the eye of contemporaries was the
disregard he showed of his immediate personal profit
or comfort, if equity lay in the other scale. They
relate with admiration that when Matthew of Trie
claimed the county of Dammartin, and adduced in
support a royal charter from which the seal was
broken away, though the Council declared the instru-
ment invalid, the King, seeing it to be genuine, re-
fused to press a technical flaw, and gave judgment
for the suitor. And again, when the noise of brawl-
ers in a tavern at Vitry disturbed his devotions,
he would not stop them till he had made inquiry
and found that the justice of the place belonged to
himself.
So much for the question of justice. Now to turn
to a hardly less important aspect of government and
consider the instruments through which it worked.
Louis used all efforts to secure the integrity of his
officials, by care in selection, by strictness of instruc-
tion, and by anxiety to discover and remove offend-
ers. “ He took the greatest pains,” it is written, “ to
find faithful and discreet men, of good conversation
and repute, and above all with clean hands ; and of
256
Saint Lotus
[ 1254 -
such he made his bailiffs and seneschals ; and* if they
behaved well in their office, promoted them to be
his friends and councillors/’ Immediately after his
return to France he issued the celebrated
A D
ordinance containing instructions to his
bailiffs, viscounts, provosts, and other offi-
cers, greater and less, which by its rules and pro-
hibitions anticipates very many of the precautions
which the experience of later ages has judged expe-
dient to be taken against the abuse of administrative
authority. Among numerous provisions designed
to prevent and abolish common grievances of the
governed, those relating to the personal conduct of
officials are particularly full and explicit. It was
wisely considered, no doubt, that self-interest is the
chief cause of misrule ; that motive being put out of
action, there is little temptation remaining to the
magistrate or the tax-collector to depart from the
standard of fairness between man and man.
It is enacted that the bailiffs and other officials
shall swear solemnly and publicly on taking up their
posts that they will receive no presents of gold or
silver or benefices or anything else from those in
their jurisdiction, except gifts of fruit, bread, and
wine of a value less than ten shillings in one week ;
and that they will not allow their wives or children
or relations or servants to accept such presents.
Especially that they will receive nothing from those
who have or are about to have suits to plead before
them. Similarly that they will not borrow ^above
the sum of twenty pounds and will discharge the
debt within two months. That they will give no
1270 ]
f Internal Affairs
257
presents to any of the King’s councillors, or to those
appointed to inspect their accounts, or to the travel-
ling commissioners of inquest: and that the inferior
officials will give none to their superiors. That they
will faithfully judge and punish their subordinates
if they find them to be guilty of plunder or usury or
other misdemeanour, and will not screen or support
them in any way.
Bailiffs are also forbidden to buy or acquire land in
their province without express permission ; otherwise
the land bought is .to escheat to the Crown. With-
out special leave in each case they are not to marry
their sons or daughters or kinsmen or kinswomen to
any person of their province ; nor to procure them
any benefice of the Church there. These restrictions
as to marriage and the acquisition of land not to
apply to officers of lower rank. Further provisions
declare that the King’s officials of the higher degrees
shall abstain from profane swearing, from dicing, and
haunting taverns ; and that they shall not maintain
a multitude of beadles and yeomen, lest the people be
oppressed. Finally it is provided that all bailiffs,
viscounts, provosts, and mayors after quitting their
office shall remain for forty days, in person or by
procurators, within the sphere of its exercise, so as to
answer before their successors to all complaints
which may be lodged against them.
It is the recognised infirmity of any administrat-
ive machine that, however excellent the principles
of its construction, however careful the choice of
material, however wise the rules which govern its
working, nothing can hinder the insidious creeping
258 Saint Louis [ 1254 -
in of stagnation or abuse or both, but the flow of
searching and even captious inquiry and criticism
from outside, and that armed with authority and the
power of punishment. As the royal rule extended
and multiplied its springs and levers of action, the
danger would have grown of the instruments play-
ing false and running out of gear, had it not been
prevented by constant examination and repair. The
commissioners of inquest have been mentioned.
Such officers had been sent over the realm, in former
reigns as well as this, upon rare occasions, to inquire
into and correct the abuses of government for exam-
ple, immediately before the crusade. But after his
return the King appointed them frequently and reg-
ularly, choosing with great care, it is related, some-
times friars, sometimes lawyers, sometimes knights,
who travelled through the domain once a year or
oftener, to investigate the conduct of bailiffs and
royal officials, and if they found them doing wrong,
to remove them from their places and punish them.
An instance of their action is given in the case of the
bailiff of Amiens, who had become very rich through
malversation, but was deprived, imprisoned, and
forced to make restitution by the sale of all he pos-
sessed ; so that when the King at last set him free
he had barely a horse to ride on.
It was the general usage at this time for places of
office' and authority under the Crown to be bought
and sold ; their emoluments being considered as a pro-
perty vested in the holder, for the loss of which he
expected to be compensated by his successor. Louis
in his ordinance mentioned above put several restric-
3
1270] Internal Affairs 259
* tions on this kind o£ traffic, which was liable to bear
evil fruits. In one case, where the harm was notorious,
he abolished the custom. The provostship of Paris, an
office of high importance, used to pass to the highest
bidder. The purchaser recouped himself by selling
justice to the rich, and by allowing his kinsfolk and
friends to commit all sorts of outrages with impunity.
Frightful disorder was the consequence. Joinville
says that on account of the rapine and injustice the
common people did not dare to remain on the King’s
ground, but went to dwell in other neighbouring
lordships. The Provost’s court was emptied of suit-
ors, and all Paris was full of thieves and criminals.
Louis was aware of the evil, and after in vain trying
to enlist the help of the Bishop and Chapter, who
shared the jurisdiction of the city, took the correc-
tion of it into his own hands. He ordered that the
provostship should be sold no longer, and attached
a great wage to the office. Then he searched France
for a just and stern man, who would not spare the
rich more than the poor. Such an one was found
in Stephen Boileau, who was appointed, and so be-
haved himself, says Joinville, that no malefactor or
robber or murderer could stay in Paris but was
hanged at once; friends or rank or money could not
save him. The new Provost shewed an almost Ro-
man virtue, executing his own godson and one of his
dearest friends for crimes they had committed. The
people returned and came more than ever to live in
the King’s lordship on account of the good justice
which they got there, so that the tax on sales and the
other revenue grew to double its former amount.
26 o
Saint Louis
[ 1254 -
The relations of the monarchy with the Church
have been touched upon in former chapters. Dis-
putes similar to those there instanced continued to
spring up in various provinces at intervals of time ;
but the strife never came to such a head of bitter-
ness as before the crusade. The King’s behaviour
showed both moderation and firmness. His affec-
tion to the Church was beyond doubt, and his fond-
ness for religious persons has been remarked. They
were always powerful in his counsels : four of his
ministers became Cardinals, and two of them Popes.*
But the just and level balance of his mind no less
than the traditions of the regency saved him from
that subservience to ecclesiastical interests into which
the fatal piety of monarchs has sometimes fallen.
At the same time the general opposition of the bar-
ons to clerical claims, in which the royal officers
throughout the kingdom joined heartily of their own
accord, enabled him often to play his favourite part
of mediator; and, as protector and head of temporal
authority, to arrange a compromise with the Pope,
who represented the spiritual power. Thus extreme
measures of interdict on the one side and forfeiture
on the other were avoided or annulled : a more
reasonable spirit was imposed on the disputants;
and the particular matter of quarrel was frequently
referred to inquiry and arbitration. Nevertheless
the King maintained steadily, even against papal
* Raoul, Bishop of Evreux and Cardinal of Alba ; Hen^y, Arch-
bishop of Embrun ; Guy Fulcodi, Archbishop of Narbonne, after-
wards Pope Clement IV. ; Simon, treasurer of Saint Martin of Tours,
afterwards Pope Martin II.
1270]
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261
remonstrance, the essentials of his position ; the
competence of the civil courts in civil matters ; the
royal control over prelates in respect of their temp-
oralities ; and the right of presentation to benefices.
The last was the more jealously guarded as he was
extremely anxious and careful that none but fit per-
sons should be presented. He kept a list of deserv-
ing clergy, whose learning or piety he had noted,
and set his face against the common habit of plural-
ity, refusing to give anyone a benefice unless he
resigned that which he held already.
He stood fast also, as Joinville relates, by the re-
solution taken in the earlier years of the reign to
oppose the abuse of excommunication. The bish-
ops of France made complaint, the Bishop of
Auxerre being spokesman, that many excommun-
icated persons refused stubbornly to satisfy the
Church, and so died in their sins ; by which Chris-
tianity, they said, took great hurt. They desired
the King therefore to command his officers to seize
the goods of all who had remained excommunicate
for a year and a day, in order to compel them to get
themselves absolved. Louis replied that he would
do this, if after proper inquiry such persons were
found to be in the wrong. The bishops demurred :
it was not the King's concern, they said, to inquire
into cases which ecclesiastical courts had decided.
He flatly refused to allow his officers to act on any
other condition, declaring that it would be against
God ^and against reason to force people to get ab-
solution, if it was the clergy who were in the wrong.
“ I will give you an instance," he added, “in the
262
Saint Louis
[ 1254 -
Count of Brittany.* He was excommunicated by
the bishops of Brittany for full seven years: then
the court of Rome absolved him and condemned
them. If I had forced him to get absolution after
the first year I should have sinned against God and
* against him.”
Louis owed a debt of gratitude to the towns of
his kingdom which he repaid by giving them good
government and security in their liberties and immun-
ity from undue taxation more than by any special
extension of their privileges. Indeed the authority
and interference of the Crown, in matters of justice
and finance and in the election of magistrates, was
more active in the municipalities than it had ever
been before. But the power was used for good ends,
order and economy, and its exercise was not unwel-
come. The King enjoyed a high respect and popu-
larity among the citizen classes of his subjects, who
held him with reason to be their friend. He was
steadily favourable towards them, from motives, as
it appears, of policy no less than of equity and bene-
ficence. He abolished, at the prayer of the inhabit-
ants, a number of unjust or inconvenient customs
which had grown up in this town or that ; and insti-
tuted others for the ease and encouragement of
trade. In particular he is recorded to have made
regulations to protect the transactions of foreign
merchants ; so that great numbers of them brought
their wares into France, by which the country was
enriched. But perhaps his most useful measure in
* That is John, son of Peter.
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263
this direction was the reform of the coinage, a mat-
ter to which he was very attentive. Many different
coinages circulated in the realm ; for it was a pre-
rogative not only of the magnates but of lesser
barons to strike their own. The multitude of stand-
ards, the variation of values, the frequency of de-
basement were great impediments to commerce.
Louis worked to establish a uniform coinage, — the
royal, — to regulate it on a suitable scale, and to fix
its value. He would never use any but his own
money ; and made an ordinance nine years after his
return providing that royal money alone
should circulate in the domain, and that
elsewhere it should pass equally with that of ^
the lord of the place. Severe penalties were added
against clippers and coiners. To increase its author-
ity the ordinance was countersigned by deputies on
behalf of the citizens of Paris, Orleans, Sens, Laon,
and Provins.
At the close of reviewing the King’s public be-
haviour it will not be out of place to repeat from
the written instructions which he left to his succes-
sor those parts which deal with the conduct to be
observed by the Prince towards his own subjects, the
Church, and other rulers. The following precepts
are extracted from the document as it has been
handed down by several contemporary writers in
terms that differ a little from one another according
to the variety of copies :
“ Dear son, maintain the good customs of your realm
and abolish the bad. Do not be covetous with your
264
Saint Louis
[ 1254 -
people, nor lay tax nor toll on them except through great
necessity. Be faithful and stern to do justice to your
subjects, without turning to the right hand or the left.
Uphold the plaint of the poor against the rich, until the
truth be declared. If any man has a suit against you,
'speak for him and against yourself, till the truth is
known ; for so your councillors will be bolder in judg-
ing for you or against you, according to right. If you
hold aught belonging to another, having got it yourself
or from your ancestors, if the thing is certain, restore it
without delay ; if it is doubtful, make careful inquiry
quickly through wise men. Take thought how your
people and subjects may live in peace and justice under
you. Especially guard the good towns and communes
of your realm in the state and franchise in which your
ancestors guarded them ; and if there is anything to
amend, amend it ; and hold them in favour and love ;
for through the force and riches of the great towns your
subjects and strangers will fear to do you wrong, espe-
cially your peers and barons. Honour and love all per-
sons belonging to Holy Church, and see that they are not
deprived of the gifts and alms which your ancestors be-
stowed on them. Give the benefices of Holy Church to
godly persons of clean life, acting therein according to
the advice of prudent and pious men. Keep yourself
from making war against Christian men without much
counsel ; and if it befalls that you must make w r ar,
guard Holy Church and those who have not sinned
against you. If wars and quarrels arise between your
subjects, appease them as quickly as you can. Be care-
ful to have good provosts and bailiffs ; and often make
inquiry about them and about your household, hotf they
behave themselves, and whether there is any vice of
covetousness or falseness or knavery among them.
1270 ] f Internal Affairs 265
Labour that all naughty sins may be removed from the
earth : especially suppress naughty oaths and heresy
with all your power. Take care that the expenses of
your household are reasonable/*
THEOBALD, KING OF NAVARRE
JOHN OF JOINVILLE
CHAPTER XI
PERSONAL LIFE
I254-I270
T N the two preceding chapters we have considered
| the conduct of the prince and the governor, and
have seen how it commended itself, and how
deservedly, to the judgment of the world. But the
King’s religion and virtue received even more praise
from his contemporaries than did his peacefulness
and wisdom and justice: the qualities of the mon-
arch were excelled by those of the saint. His faith
and charity, his devotion and gentleness and temper-
ance and humility in daily life, are the theme of all
his biographers, four of whom may be mentioned
whose opportunities of knowledge and acquaint-
ance cannot be denied. The most celebrated is John
of Joinville, the seneschal of Champagne, who fol-
lowed Louis in his crusade and lived much with him
after his return. Godfrey of Beaulieu, the King’s
confessor during the last twenty years of his life,
and William of Chartres, his almoner, who was r with
him in captivity and at his death, have both written
biographies turning more on his private than public
[ 1254 - 70 ]
.#■
Personal Life
267
actions. .There is ajso a life of the same description
by an anonymous" writer, who was confessor for
eighteen years to Queen Margaret, and afterwards to
her daughter Blanche. It would be tedious and ful-
some to repeat all the laudations and anecdotes of
these authors, the truth of which nevertheless there'
is seldom any reason to doubt. It will be sufficient
to attempt to draw from them and from other
sources some account of the King’s disposition and
habits during this latter part of his reign, to which
period their narratives, with the exception of Join-
ville’s, for the most part refer.
From his earliest years Louis had been inclined
to goodness, but after the unhappy issue of the
crusade the activity and fervour of his piety in-
creased. He felt that the supreme and crowning
enterprise, as he deemed it, of a Christian King had
slipped his grasp ; and he turned from the holy
quest which was denied him to a more strict and
assiduous fulfilment of the lesser duties that re-
mained, as if therein he hoped to be able to forget,
and perhaps to atone for, the great failure with
which he reproached himself. To use the image of
his confessor, his new and holy behaviour after the
return from Palestine excelled his former by as much
as gold is more precious than silver.
He was conspicuous in charity to the poor and
miserable; six score poor were fed from his table
every day wherever he went, and more in Lent and
Advent. Three times a week in those seasons he
served thirteen of them with bread, soup, and meat
or fish from his own hands, before eating himself;
268
Saint Louis
[ 1254 ™
and sometimes the whole number. Besides this he
continually bestowed large gifts of food, clothing,
and money. His donation to the friars and nuns of
the mendicant orders alone amounted to seven
thousand pounds a year, besides cloth and shoes,
and sixty thousand herrings each Lent. “'He gave
in addition more alms than can be counted/' says
Joinville, “ to poor monks, to poor sick, to hospitals
and almshouses, to poor gentlemen and women, to
fallen women, to poor widows and those who were
lying in of child, to poor workmen who through old
age or sickness could not pursue their trade." Nor
did this exhaust his liberality. He raised and en-
dowed hospitals at Paris, Pontoise, Compi£gne, and
Vernon, himself superintending the building and or-
dering the arrangement of the rooms ; also a house
for three hundred blind men at Paris, and another
for reformed prostitutes, that they might be able to
escape from sin.
It is related that there were some who blamed the
great expenses of his charity. “ Better be extrava-
gant in almsgiving for the love of God," replied
Louis, “than on vain and worldly show." After
the crusade he ceased to wear cloth of green or scar-
let, or plumes, or rich furs ; but that the poor, who
received his cast-off garments, might not lose by the
change, he added sixty pounds each year to the sum
distributed in alms. He would use no gold or silver
bridles or rich trappings for his horses, and no gold
or silver plate at his own table. Neverthele^ he
kept up the splendour which his dignity required.
Not only were solemn occasions, such as the visit
SAINT LOUIS MINISTERING TO THE POOR.
FROM A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT,
1270 ]
Personal Life
269
of the English King, suitably honoured, but at all
times he maintained his household on a scale which
was thought liberal, and even magnificent ; and
showed fitting largess and hospitality at the sessions
of Parliament and assemblies of his barons. The
service of his Court, we are told, was much more
seemly, abundant, and noble than that of any of his
ancestors.
Louis built neither castles nor palaces for his own
state and pleasure: he is said to have disapproved
of that favourite and most devouring expense of
princes. Happily his patronage was not lost to the
architecture of France, which was then in the spring
of its strength and beauty, having alone, as yet,
among the greater arts risen again out of the ruin of
the ancients and developed beyond the feebleness
of infancy. Cathedrals and churches and abbeys
sprang up over the kingdom, many by royal munifi-
cence and aid, many by that of rich barons who were
moved to imitate the pious example of their sov-
ereign. “ As a writer having made his book/' says
the chronicler, “ illumines it with gold and azure, so
the King illumined his realm with the fair abbeys
which he built therein." There was a general activ-
ity in religious building ; the cathedrals of Amiens,
Rheims, and Beauvais, to name a few out of many,
were partly or wholly constructed in this reign.
Royaumont and the Holy Chapel have been men-
tioned ; the nave and transept of Saint Denis was
another work due to the King's direct impulse ; be-
sides numerous convents, mostly for the orders of
Saint Dominic and Saint Francis, whose austere rule
270
Saint Louis
£ 1254 -
and comparative simplicity of life Louis held in high
affection and esteem.
“ He loved/' it is said, “ all persons who devoted
themselves to the service of God and wore the garb
^of religion." To his confessor he behaved with the
utmost deference and submission ; and caused the
table of his chaplains to be placed higher than his
own. When he stayed at Royaumont or some other
abbey, as he often did, he would join the monks in
their tasks and meals and devotions and studies,
serving at their tables, chanting the offices, listening
to an exposition of the Scriptures, living and faring
in all ways like the meanest brother of the order,
except that he showed more humility. Some years
after his return it appears that he formed the design
of abdicating the crown to his son and retiring to a
monastery. He was dissuaded with difficulty by the
Queen, to whom first he disclosed his purpose. She
prevailed in the end by force of entreaty, pleading
the public interest and pointing to the unripe years
of the Prince and the evils which had attended the
King's own minority.
This side of his conduct, though approved by
those whose opinion was best worth having, did not
escape some stricture in an age when the regular
clergy were too liable to the jealousy and dislike of
a large body of people. An incident is related
which shows at once the reproaches to which he was
exposed, and the patience with which he bore them.
A certain woman who was pleading in his court cried
out to him one day as he came to take his seat;
“Fie! Fie! shouldest thou be King of France?
r
12703
Personal Life
271
Better another than thou, for thou art naught but
one of the Preaching friars, and a clerk and a shave-
F ling. Great evil it is that thou art King, and great
wonder that thou art not thrust forth from the
realm.” Louis heard her out, then answered smiling,
“Assuredly you say sooth; I am not worthy to be
King ; and, if it had been God's pleasure, it would be
better another should be so, who knew better how
to govern the realm and was so far from resent-
4# ing an insult which most rulers of his time would
have punished with savage cruelty that he forbade
the yeomen to touch her or put her out of the court,
and afterwards sent one of his chamberlains to con-
sole her grievances with a present of money.
But if he could not become a monk in name and
profession he led a life as severe and self-denying,
and almost as assiduous in prayer and fasting and
penance, as if he had been immured in a cloister
under the most rigid rule of austerity. It was his
custom to rise before dawn to hear matins in his
chapel, going and returning in silence so as not to
wake the knights who slept in his chamber. In the
^ evening he heard complines, and during the day two
masses or more according to the season, and also the
Canonical Hours and the Hours of the Virgin
chanted. If he were abroad on horseback he would
go through the latter at the usual time in a low
voice with his chaplain. If he were travelling and
found no chapel the services were said in his own
apartment. Even when he was sick he would have
m them held by his bedside. Some nobles complained
that he wasted so much time In hearing masses and
El 254-
272 Saint Louis
sermons. “ If I spent double as. much,” he retorted,
“ in playing dice, or in hunting and fowling, nothing
would be said of it.” He prayed alone often and
earnestly, crying for the “ gift of tears,” in which, as
^ he sadly admitted to his confessor, he was deficient,
and rejoiced to feel them run down his cheeks. Fie
knelt at his devotions on the bare stone in summer
and winter, and lay on a plank bed covered only
with a cloth. Every Friday he fasted, in Advent
and Lent on bread and water alone. On Fridays he
confessed, and received discipline from his confessor
with a small scourge, which he always carried in an
ivory case concealed in his dress. Similar scourges
he gave to his children and particular friends, “ that
they might receive discipline at the fitting time and
place.” He submitted to every penance which his
confessor imposed, and laid others on himself, such
as wearing a hair shirt once a week in Advent and
Lent, and fasting more often and more severely than
the Church enjoined. These austerities injured his
feeble health, and after falling dangerously ill he was
induced to relax them in some degree.
Not only on Fast days but at all seasons he ob-
served moderation and abstinence in food and drink.
“ I never heard him,” says Joinville, “planning new
dishes, as many rich men do.” He would never eat
of the most dainty dishes which were set on his
table, nor a fruit or fish the first time it appeared in
its season, but sent such things down to the poor.
He mixed water with his wine, and purposely spoilt
in the same way any rich and savoury sauce which
was served to him. In Lent he abstained from wine;
SAINT LOUIS SUBMITTING TO
SCOURGING.
SAINT LOUIS FEEDING
A LEPER.
1270 ]
» Personal Life 273
altogether, and drank beer instead, which he disliked.
The spirit of humility and mortification enjoined
on Christians led him to wash the feet of poor beg-
gars. He did this regularly every week, not from
ostentation, for he kept it as secret as possible, and %
is related to have chosen blind men most often for the
purpose, that they might not know who he was. In
the same spirit he fed the in firm poor at table with
his own hand, causing three such to sit always by
his chair. He often visited the hospitals, and there
and elsewhere ministered to the meanest wants of
the sick, especially of lepers and those afflicted with
other loathsome diseases from whom everyone else
shrank. But this also he did in private as far as he
could, and sometimes refrained lest he might shock
or annoy barons who were present and not well
acquainted with his habits.
These ascetic rigours did not harden his temper or
destroy the natural gaiety of his disposition, as may
be judged from one of the penances which he laid
on himself, “not to laugh on a Friday if he could
help it.” “ He had a pleasant manner of speech
seasoned with wit,” writes one of his biographers,
“and was very fond of conversation, saying that
nothing was so good after a meal.” Stage-players
he abhorred, and took no great delight in songs and
ballads. But when rich lords who were his guests
brought their own minstrels, as was the fashion, to
amuse the company with reciting and playing on the
harp* he listened courteously. He was an affable
and agreeable host, and took especial trouble to en-
tertain strangers. He was familiar with his friends,
274 Saint Louis r [ 1254 -
waiving the privileges of his rank and disdaining all
ceremonious etiquette; in his intimate letters he did
not style himself King, but Louis of Poissy — the
place where he was born and baptised.
We are told that he seldom ate in company of the
barons, but had a keen desire for the acquaintance
of honourable and modest men. Renowned doctors
and scholars frequented his court and table, among
whom may be named Robert of Sorbonne and Saint
Thomas Aquinas. In conversation he would speak
of the vicissitudes of his reign, especially of the inci-
dents of his crusade and captivity, always express-
ing thankfulness for the Divine mercy which had
been signally manifested to him on many occasions.
Sometimes discussion appears to have turned on
questions of theology, on the working of Providence
in the world, or on the minor points of ethics, the
comparative value of different qualities, and how
men ought to behave in particular circumstances.
Joinville has related one passage on a lighter topic,
which is worth repeating for the witness it bears to
the King’s consideration of the feelings of others.
It happened at Corbeil as they were walking in a
meadow after dinner. Robert of Sorbonne, between
whom and the seneschal there was frequently a war
of words, attacked him about the dress he was wear-
ing. “ If the King sat down and you sat in a higher
place, would you not be to blame?” “ Yes,” said
Joinville unsuspectingly. “Then you are much to
blame for clothing yourself more richly than the
King; for you are wearing green cloth and fur,
which he never does.” This made Joinville angry
12701
Personal Life
275
and he retorted ; “ Master Robert, saving your grace,
I am not to blame if I clothe myself in green cloth
and fur, for that dress was left me by my parents.
But you are to blame, for you who are a serf’s soil
have abandoned the dress of your parents and wear
finer cloth than the King/' “ And I took the lappel
of his surcoat and that of the King/' the narrator
goes on, “ and said, * See if it is not true.' Then the
King began to speak for Master Robert and to de-
fend him with all his might.” Afterwards he called
Joinville and some others apart, “and said that he
had called me to confess that he was wrong in his
defence of Master Robert. 4 But,’ said he, ‘ I saw
him so confused that he needed my aid. But let
none of you stick at what I said in defending him ;
for, as the seneschal says, you should dress well and
neatly, and your wives will love you the better for
it, and your people respect you more. As the Sage
has said, a man’s clothing and armour should be
such that grave men will not call it too rich, nor
young men call it too mean.’ ”
The same kindness of heart shone through his
whole behaviour and endeared him to his acquaint-
ance and following. “There was something in the
mere sight of him,” writes Godfrey of Beaulieu,
“ that found a way to the hearts and affections of all.”
He was extraordinarily patient with his servants and
those of his household, never speaking harshly to
the lowest footboy except for a grave fault, and pass-
ing ®ver or pardoning omissions or carelessness
which, as he said himself to one who dropped burn-
ing grease on him from a candle, his grandfather
2 j 6 Saint Louis r [1254-
would have punished with dismissal at the least.
He is related however on one occasion to have lost
his temper and beaten a lazy squire, justifying himself
by the necessity of making some distinction between
good servants and bad. He could not bear to hear
slanderous tales against anyone. Those whom he
wished to rebuke or admonish he called aside and
spoke to in private, or with only his confessor pre-
sent ; as in the case of a lady of the Court who was
notorious for her extravagance in dress and orna-
ment, but by the King’s gentle exhortations was
brought to amend her ways.
His leniency to faults against himself was con-
trasted with an uncommon severity towards some
sins which the world is generally disposed to con-
done, in particular those of impurity and blasphemy.
Offences of this kind, which do not seem to inflict
any direct and definite injury on society, are left as
a rule to the punishment of Heaven ; but Louis in
his great zeal for the honour of God and the salva-
tion of his people’s souls discountenanced and re-
pressed by such means as lay in his power practices
which were harmful to both. He was not only
strictly continent in his own life, but exacted the
same virtue from his attendants and urged it upon
his nobles. Several of the latter were persuaded
by him to put away their concubines or to marry
them and live cleanly; while dissolute habits if
discovered in the royal household were rewarded
with instant dismissal and sometimes with further
penalties.
“ He was much troubled,” says his confessor, “ by
1270 ] * Personal Life 277
the general plague^and vice of shameful oaths and
blasphemies against God and the Saints which from
old times had specially afflicted his realm.' ” Join-
ville adds his testimony. “ I never heard him name
the Devil, except in reading some book, such as the,
lives of the Saints, where it was necessary. That
name has great currency through the kingdom, and
it is great disgrace to France and to the King who
suffers it, that men can hardly speak a word without
saying 4 Devil take him ! * It is a grievous fault of
the tongue to devote to the Devil men and women
who have been given to God in their baptism. In
my house of Joinville he who uses such words gets
a buffet or a stroke from a stick, and thereby this
bad language is almost entirely put down/' The
evil was so notorious that the Pope interested him-
self in its suppression, committing the matter to his
Legate, Simon, Cardinal of Saint Cecilia, by whose
advice the King called a Parliament of prelates and
barons at Paris in 1264, in which an ordinance was
passed for the punishment of public blasphemers by
fine, pillory, or imprisonment, according to the grav-
ity of their offence ; and in gross cases by burning
in the tongue. The last penalty was enforced some
time after against .a burgess of Paris. The severity
excited many murmurs, by which Louis was un-
moved. He declared that he would willingly be
burned in the tongue himself if he could only extir-
pate this wicked habit of his people : and when a
benefit which he conferred on the city renewed his
popularity with the Parisians, remarked that he ex-
pected a greater reward in Heaven on account of
278
Saint Louis
£ 1254 -
their former curses than from the blessings which
they now bestowed.
His harshness in this respect sprang from the be-
lief which he shared with his contemporaries that it
was the duty of a pious ruler to punish disobedience
to the laws of God and outrage against his majesty
equally with that offered to human decrees and dig-
nities. To a similar cause must be attributed his
active dislike of unbelievers. He held heretics in
horror: happily there was no occasion in the latter
part of the reign for any persecution of such. He
refused in Egypt to endure the presence of a rene-
gade. “Jews he hated so much that he could not
bear to look on them/’ says William of Chartres.
The same writer describes his general attitude to-
wards the oppressed race. “ He would not take any
of their goods for his own use, and declared that
they should not be allowed to practice usury but
must get their living by trade or labour/' When it
was represented to him that there must be usury,
and that being destructive to salvation it was better
it should be practised by Jews, who were damned in
any case, than by Christians, Louis answered that
Christian usurers might be dealt with by the ecclesi-
astical courts which had jurisdiction over them, but
that the Jews were his affair and he would not have
them poison France with usury under his protection.
“Let them give it up or go from my land.'" He
had already during the stay in Palestine or-
* * dered them to be expelled from the *oyal
00 domain, and the edict was enforced after his
return against all who continued obstinate. Diligent
1270 ]
Personal Life
279
inquiry was made in order that the confiscated pro-
perty of the condemned might be restored to those
from whom it had been plundered. The King how-
ever was not content only to punish Jews, but
worked to convert them with a charity unusual at
the time ; and in a few cases succeeded.
His faith in the Christian creed was firm and deep
and not disturbed by any doubts or questionings.
“ He used to say,” Joinville relates, “ that we ought
to believe in the articles of the Faith so strongly as
never to contradict them by word or deed, whatever
mischief or harm might happen to our bodies on
that account ; and that the subtlety of the Enemy
of mankind was such, that not being able to deprive
men of the reward of their good works he laboured
with all his might to make them die in doubt ; and
that therefore we should keep watch over ourselves,
and thrust away the snares and temptations of this
kind which the Enemy sends.” But he understood
and sympathised with those who experienced and
resisted the assaults of unbelief, quoting the case of
a learned divine who confessed his doubtings to the
Bishop of Paris and was consoled by him with the
assurance that a faith which held out against strong
temptation would be more highly honoured and re-
warded than that which was never assailed ; just as
the guard of a dangerous and exposed fortress was
more honourable than that of one standing in per-
fect security beyond the reach of a foe. The King
however used to declare, says the same biographer,
that, to avoid running into peril, no man who was not
a very great clerk should hold dispute or argument
28 o
Saint Lotus
[ 1254 -
with unbelievers about the Faith ; the layman when
he heard the Christian religion defamed should de-
fend it not with his tongue but with good blows of
his sword.
Louis was a scholar and a patron of learning. He
read daily after dinner in the Vulgate or in the
works of Saint Augustine or some other of the Fath-
ers, sometimes translating the Latin aloud for the
benefit of his attendants, or discussing what he read
with learned monks or prelates. While he was
abroad he heard of a Sultan of the Saracens who
had formed a library of all sorts of books bearing on
the religion and philosophy of the East. He was
stirred to emulate this example, and after his return
caused copies to be made from the best originals
which could be found of the Scriptures and of the
writings of Saint Augustine, Saint Ambrose, Saint
Jerome, Saint Gregory, and many other Fathers and
Doctors, and built a library for them in his chapel,
where he often studied himself and allowed anyone
else who wished. He preferred, it is said, to have
manuscripts copied rather than to buy those already
existing, in order that the number of books might
_ be increased. In the last half of the reiVn
A ID" ' ' ' ; " ' '
Robert of Sorbonne founded liis famous col-
lege of theology at Paris under royal patron-
1270* age ’ g etfan § a grant of land and houses from
the King. Other foundations belong to the
same period ; notably the college of the Bernardins,
that of Cluny, and the college of the Treasurers.
The University itself, of which these were branches,
flourished exceedingly after its restoration, though
SAINT LOUIS READING THE SCRIPTURES.
FROM A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT.
1270 ]
Personal Life
281
convulsed by the jealous rivalry between the mendi-
cant orders and the secular doctors, which Louis
strove to appease. He succeeded in arranging a
compromise in 1256, but the Pope annulled it and
the dispute raged some years longer. Among the,
celebrated theologians whose names appear in the
history of the quarrel may be mentioned Thomas
Aquinas of the Dominicans, Bonaventure of the
Franciscans, William of Saint Amour, and Gerard of
Abbeville of the seculars.
Joinville accuses the King of neglecting his wife
and children in Palestine. His behaviour at home
is certainly not open to that reproach. He lived
with the Queen in mutual affection and confidence,
though her interference was rarely admitted, even if
it was offered, in public affairs. He took great pains
with the education of his children, keeping them
much in his company. As his sons grew up he
caused them to attend him- regularly to complines
and also to other services and to sermons. On
special occasions when he washed the feet of the
poor or served them at table the Princes would do
the same. The two that were born during the # cru-
sade were brought up in monastic houses at Paris,
and Louis is said to have intended that they should
take the vows of religion. Whether from want of
inclination or for some other reason they never did
this, but were married instead. Joinville has given
a picture of the King’s domestic life. “ Before he
went to bed he would make his children come to
him, and would tell them of the deeds of good Kings
and Emperors, saying that they should take example
282
Saint Louis
El 254-
from such. Also he would speak of the deeds of
wicked princes who had lost their realms by luxury
and rapine and avarice. * And these things/ he
would say, 'I tell you that you may beware of
them, lest God be angry/ He made them learn
their Hours of the Virgin and say their Hours of the
Day before him, to accustom them to hear their
Hours when they got lands of their own/' He was
strict in exacting their obedience. “ You have done
very wrong,” he said to his son Philip and his son-in-
law Theobald, when out of ceremony and respect
they would not sit as close to him as he commanded,
“ since although you are my sons you did not do my
bidding at once. See that it does not happen so
again.” The instructions which he left to Philip
have been mentioned above; they deal with the
private no less than the public side of life. Other
letters are extant written to his daughters Isabel
and Margaret, exhorting them to piety and virtue
and modest behaviour.
The health of Louis was weak, a constitution nat-
urally delicate having been further damaged by the
hardship and severe illness first of the Poitevin then
of the Egyptian campaign. But none the less he
led a life full of various activity. His days were oc-
cupied by the business of justice and affairs of state,
besides the time given to charitable works, to prayer
and to study, which last two often trenched upon
the hours of sleep. His only diversion was reading
and conversation ; for in the latter part of his life he
gave up hunting and hawking, and had never spent
his leisure in dicing or any such idle amusement.
1270 ]
Personal Life
283
He was constantly travelling, mostly in the neigh-
bourhood of Paris, as was natural. But he also
visited Normandy and other parts of his domains,
except the south. The existing records show an
average of forty royal journeys every year. To this^
cause it may be attributed that the provinces were
not neglected. In particular the King’s care is re-
corded in relieving local famines, which sometimes
prevailed owing to the failure of harvest in a place
and the difficulty and slowness of traffic between dif-
ferent parts.
“ Many men wondered,” says a chronicler, “that
one man, so meek, so gentle, not strong of body nor
strenuous in labour, could reign peacefully over so
great a kingdom and so many powerful lords, espe-
cially as he was neither lavish in presents nor very
complaisant to some of them.” But gentle of be-
haviour and feeble of body as he was, we are told
that a certain reverence was felt by all who ap-
proached him, even men accustomed to the presence
of kings. His name was honoured for saintliness
and wisdom both in and beyond his realm, and his
visible power and authority was enhanced by the
renown of his personal virtues.
„ CHARLES, KING OF SICILY MATTHEW OF MONTMORENCY
CHAPTER XII
SECOND CRUSADE AND DEATH OF LOUIS
1270
T OWARDS the end of his reign the King's heart
turned to a design in which he could expect
no favour or support from his counsellors.
He had relinquished the crusade with reluctance.
Soon after he was balked of his wish to become
a monk a prospect of renewing it began to be
opened. Europe was filled with tidings of fresh
calamity in Palestine, which was overrun first by the
Tartars, then by the victorious arms of the Sultan
of Egypt, that Bibars who had fought at Mansourah;
and successive Popes were exhorting the princes of
Christendom to succour the distress of their breth-
ren. To Louis it seemed a Divine call to resume his
quest, to devote his declining years, as he had de-
voted the flower of his manhood, to the service of
the Faith, and perhaps by a new and more prosper-
ous attempt to achieve the high purpose which he
had missed. As this hope slowly took shape inr his
mind he consulted secretly with Pope Clement IV., -4
who after long wavering and doubt sent an encour-
284 I
12703
Second Crusade and Death
285
aging answer. By this his resolution, which contin-
ually grew stronger, was fixed ; and in order to
announce it he called a great Parliament at Paris
for the Lent of 1267.
The narration of Joinville, who was one of those
summoned, shows with what dismay the news was
received by his people. Though the secret was still
guarded, rumours were in the air. “When I had
heard mass,” says the writer, “ I went to the King’s
chapel, and found the King on the platform where
the relics were kept. While he was coming down,
two knights, members of his Council, began to talk
with one another. One of them said, 4 Never believe
me if the King does not take the cross here/ And
the other replied, 4 If he does it will be one of the
most sorrowful days that ever was in France. For
if we do not take the cross we shall lose the King,
and if we do we shall lose God, seeing that we shall
do it not for Him, but for fear of the King/ ” Their
words came true, for next day Louis took the cross
in full Parliament. Plis three eldest sons, Philip,
John, and Peter, and the Duke of Brittany followed
his example; so a short time after did his son-in-
law, Theobald of Navarre, and his nephew, Robert of
Artois, son of him who had fallen in Egypt ; so did
a number of magnates, moved by their respect for
the King and by his exhortations and those of the
Legate, the Cardinal of Saint Cecilia, whom the Pope
had commissioned to preach the crusade. But
among the general body of barons there was dislike
and reluctance. The enthusiasm of the kingdom
had been exhausted by the previous expedition:
286
Saint Louis
[1270
even men of a zealous spirit thought that enough
had been done and suffered for honour and for the
Faith, and let their minds dwell on immediate dan-
gers and inconvenience more than on the prospect
of ultimate glory and gain, while former ill-fortune
had made them incredulous of success. Joinville,
who speaks for himself, represented the feelings of
many. “ I was hard pressed by the King of France
and the King of Navarre to take the cross. But I
answered that while I had been in service of God
and the King beyond sea the officers of both Kings
had destroyed and impoverished my people, as I
found on my return, by reason of which they and
I would always be the poorer. So I told them I
would remain at home to aid and defend my people,
wishing to do God’s will ; for if I put my body in
the peril of pilgrimage, seeing clearly that evil and
damage would come to my vassals thereby, I should
anger God, who gave His body to save his people.”
“ It is my opinion,” he continues, “ that they who
advised the King to go committed mortal sin ; since
as long as he was in France the whole realm was at
peace in itself and with all its neighbours, but no
sooner had he gone than its state fell to worse.”
It was three years before the crusade was ready
to start, during which time Louis quietly followed
the usual course of his life and government, exam-
ples and incidents of which have been related in the
three preceding chapters. Meanwhile he was making
his preparations. His eager persuasion drew a. far
greater number to join him than the few who had
taken the cross in the assembly of Parliament at the
FROM A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT.
1270 ]
Sec and Crusade and Death 287
first surprise. Besides the King of Navarre and the
Count of Artois, the Counts of Flanders and Saint
Paul and La Marche and Soissons and many others
adhered; and from abroad <the King of Aragon and
Prince Edward of England. It was necessary to
raise money: even before he published his design
the King had made a beginning by retrenching the
expenses of his household. A tax was levied on
the domain and large sums were received from the
towns. The Pope granted a tithe on ecclesiastical
revenues, which the clergy paid, not without mur-
murs, after sending deputies to Rome to protest,
whom Clement dismissed with a fierce rebuke.
Ships too were needed from the Venetians and Gen-
oese, and were only obtained after much delay and
trouble, owing to the quarrel of the two republics
and to the Venetians’ fear of losing their trade with
Alexandria if they angered the Egyptian Sultan.
There were threads of foreign and domestic affairs
to wind up ; marriages to contract ; reconciliations
to effect ; a final extraordinary inspection of the do-
main to be carried out, for the purpose of repairing
any wrongs and reforming any abuses which might
be discovered.
At last all was ready. A Parliament was called at
Paris for Candlemas 1270. The King made his will
and appointed Matthew, Abbot of Saint Denis, and
Simon of Nesle to be Regents in his absence. He
lifted the oriflamme from the altar of Saint Denis, and
received the staff and wallet from the new Legate,
Raoul, Bishop and Cardinal of Alba, who was to
accompany him. Then returning to Paris he visited
288
Saint Louis
CI270
Notre Dame, and next day bade farewell to the
Queen at Vincennes. He was "in no condition to
undertake the crusade had not an indomitable spirit
sustained him. “ Great sin was theirs who advised
his going,” says Joinville, “ seeing the great feeble-
ness of his body ; for he could not bear to ride in a
carriage or on horseback. Such was his weakness
that he let me carry him in my arms from the house
of the Count of Auxerre, where I took my leave of
him, as far as the Cordeliers. But feeble though he
was, perhaps he might have lived long enough if he
had stayed at home, and have done much good and
many pious works.”
He reached Aigues Mortes by easy stages at the
beginning of May, but found neither fleet nor army
yet assembled. Accordingly he stayed in that neigh-
bourhood for near two months, at the end of which
time an immense number of men and ships was
gathered in and about the port. On the 1st of July
he embarked with his sons and nephew and sailed
for Cagliari in Sardinia, where the forces of the ex-
pedition were to be collected. They made harbour
after eight days of a rough crossing. The people of
Cagliari being subjects of Pisa were enemies to the
Genoese who manned the fleet, and were induced
with difficulty to sell provisions and fresh water and
to give shelter to the sick. The King remained on
board his ship, waiting for the King of Navarre, the
Count of Poitiers, and the rest, who joined him in a
few days. A council was then held, in which it was
determined that the course of the crusade should
first be directed to Tunis. Several reasons went to
12701
Second Crusade and Death 289
form the decision. It was reported that the Sultan
of Tunis was inclined to become convert to Christ-
ianity. His ambassadors had visited France the
year before and encouraged this belief. It was
known that some congregations of Christians re-
mained in those parts, and Louis was particularly
struck with the notion of reviving the ancient
strength and glories of the Church of Africa, with
which he was acquainted from his study of Saint
Augustine. He thought that the arrival of so pow-
erful an army would confirm the disposition of the
Sultan and overawe his Infidel subjects. In addition
it was represented by many that, even should their
hope be disappointed, the country was rich and its
capital easy to take ; and that the Sultan of Egypt
drew from that region great quantities of money,
men, and horses, of which to have deprived him
would be a considerable advantage in any subsequent
campaign. A cause less avowed but perhaps not
less effective lay in the policy of Charles of Anjou.
As King of Sicily he claimed tribute from Tunis;
payment had been refused, and the prospect of en-
forcing and, if fortune favoured, of extending his
rights led him to use his powerful influence in
turning thither the plans of the crusaders.
The voyage was resumed on the 15th of July;
three days later the host disembarked between Tunis
and Carthage, the Saracens, who were taken by sur-
prise, offering hardly any opposition. The crusaders
occupied a peninsula where they were distressed for
want of water; accordingly they moved next week
towards Carthage which lay about a league distant.
19
290 Saint Louis [1270 r
Nothing remained of that ancient and famous city
but a rude fortress, which a body of sailors, supported
by five hundred crossbows and four troops of men-
at-arms, captured by escalade. This gave the army
a suitable place of encampment, as the surrounding
country was laid out in gardens and plentifully irri-
gated by wells. But further operations were de-
layed, The expectation of the enemy’s weakness
proved as delusive as the rumour of his conversion.
The Sultan, so far from welcoming the invader, im-
prisoned the principal of his Christian subjects and
soldiers, intending to use them as hostages. The
Saracens followed their usual tactics, surrounding
and harrassing the outskirts of the camp with great
numbers of horsemen, and continually threatening
to attack, causing much annoyance though little
damage, since they rarely ventured to come to close
quarters. Ditches were dug to protect the tents,
and it was resolved not to advance against Tunis
until the arrival of the King of Sicily, who was ex-
pected from day to day and had desired particularly
that no aggressive operation should be undertaken
before he came, as he was still in negotiation with
the Sultan.
Meanwhile the fierce heat of Africa and bad or
insufficient food began to affect the army in its
stationary quarters. Dysentery broke out and
spread rapidly. Many perished, among them the
Legate and Prince John, Count of Nevers. Louis
was seized by the same sickness, to which his .-worn
out frame fell an easy prey. He took to his bed
the day of his son's death, the 3rd of August.
1270 ] Second Crusade and Death 291
In a 7 few days fever and ague supervened, and he
began to prepare for the end. Calling his eldest
son, Philip, himself sick of an ague, he delivered to
him the instructions which he had drawn up for his
guidance, written in French by his own hand. He
made some additions to his will and disposed of
several other outstanding matters. He was espe-
cially anxious about the preaching and propagation
of the Faith among the Tunisians, and drew up direc-
tions for that purpose. He also gave audience to
the ambassadors of the Greek Emperor, who had
followed him to Africa to treat of the reunion of the
Churches.
On Sunday the 24th of August, Saint Bartholo-
mew’s day, he received the sacrament from his con-
fessor, and afterwards gave himself up to prayer and
to begging the intercession of the Saints, particular-
ly of Saint Denis, his patron. “ We heard him,”
says one who was present, “ often repeating to him-
self in a low voice the end of the collect of Saint
Denis : ‘ Grant us Lord, we beseech Thee, for Thy
love to despise the good fortune of this world and
not to fear its adversity \: and also the beginning of
the collect of Saint James : * Lord, be the Sanctifier
and Guardian of Thy people.’ ” In the night he was
heard singing the French hymn, ‘ Nous irons en Je-
rusalem? Next morning he fell asleep for A.D.
a little while, and waking before midday 1270,
uttered a verse of the Psalmist : “ I will enter Aug-
into # Thy house; I will adore in Thy holy ust
temple and will confess Thy name.” These 2 5^h
were his last words. He died about three o’clock in
2g2
Saint Louis
C1270
the afternoon on a bed covered with ashes, to which
he had asked to be removed, lying peacefully, with
his arms crossed, and smiling.
At the moment he expired the fleet of the King
of Sicily was entering the bay. But no one desired
"to pursue the expedition, even though three success-
ful engagements were fought against the Saracens,
and the arrival of Edward of England and other re-
inforcements increased the strength of the crusaders.
A peace was patched up with Tunis after two
months, and the army sailing to Sicily dispersed. A
part travelled with Philip through Italy to France,
carrying the bones of the King. On the way crowds
of people flocked to see and touch the coffer in
which they were borne. The heart and other por-
tions of his body had been embalmed and buried in
the church of Monreale, near to Palermo in Sicily.
The bones were solemnly interred at Saint Denis in
May of the following year. Before long miracles
were reported to be worked at the tomb of Louis.
An examination was ordered, on the result of which
and on an investigation of his whole life, conducted
^ through the testimony of many who had
* . * lived with and known him, he was placed in
^ the calendar of Saints by Pope Boniface
VIIT., twenty-seven years after his death.
The personal character of Saint Louis speaks for
itself. Praise would be tedious, and there is no need
of apology. No sound of censure or detraction
breaks the universal voice of reverence and admira-
tion which has gone up from his own and from suc-
ceeding ages. He was one of those rare and happy
FROM A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT.
1270 ] Second Crusade and Death 293
natures formed for saintship, from which the dross
and flaws of human composition seem to have been
left out, which find virtue facile, and attain holiness,
not like some vehement forceful spirits through the
fierce storm and stress of battling temptations, but.
by easy paths under sunny skies. His innate piety,
improved by nurture and training, illuminated every
relation of his life, and shone with as pure and
steady a flame amid the glare which beats upon a
throne as it might have in the still and obscure
twilight of the cloister.
But since it was his lot to be born in a royal rather
than in a private station, we cannot neglect to regard
him in another aspect and consider his qualities not
only as a man but as a king. A few monarchs have
been saints, and many have been wise or fortunate
rulers: Louis almost alone united the two charac-
ters. He possessed not only the passive but the
active virtues and those which are best calculated to
secure the welfare of society — justice, prudence,
benevolence, industry. It was his good fortune to
be placed in a position where those qualities were
sufficient, in a time which had thrown off most of its
disorders and not yet contracted others, and which
required a soothing regimen of good government
more than inspired treatment or heroic remedies.
His reign was a period of formation and settle-
ment rather than of growth. He was not a great
conqueror or reformer or legislator. He had neither
a brilliant genius nor an originating mind nor a high
capacity for war. Yet by force of his personal vir-
tues he raised the reputation and power of his
294 Saint Louis [1270
realm and crown higher than any of his ancestors;
and infused into both a lasting strength and vigour
and self-confidence more valuable than any material
gain.
Other Kings of France have made greater addi-
tions to their territories. Louis himself, had he
wished, might perhaps have anticipated the con-
quests of many centuries, might have driven the
English from the south and extended his borders to
the Rhine and the Alps. This was not done ; but
previous acquisitions were completed and consoli-
dated, and, what was more important, a national
feeling began to spring up. The outlying provinces,
shadowed by the King’s renown, began to feel,
though faintly, that they were members of the same
body, governed by a common head. The external
prestige of the French Crown gained no less, as
foreign nations saw in the power and goodness of
its holder the supreme representation of earthly
majesty.
It was within France, however, that the reign of
Louis had its greatest influence and effect. The
part which he took in developing the system of
monarchic government has been touched on in a
former chapter. The improvement in the machinery
of administration, the advance in the study and ar-
rangement of the laws, the assertion of the liberties
of the Gallican Church, which marked this time,
were not so much his conscious and deliberate work
as the natural outcome of forces and tendencies al-
ready existing and active. But he directed and
modified in some sort the movement of the current,
FROM A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT.
12701 Second Crusade and Death 295
2 ______
though without a clear vision of its meaning and
ultimate end. Moreover by the beneficence of his
government, the strictness of his justness, the fair-
ness and moderation of his dealings, he moralised the
principles at work and lent to their later development
an authority and sanction by which his successors
gladly profited. The shield of his honoured name
was thrown over them ; a legal code appeared under
the title of the Establishments of Saint Louis, and in a
Pragmatic Sanction of Saint Louis the native Church
pretended to see the foundation of its privileges.
This then was his chief and permanent gift to
France, that he moralised the monarchy, and gave it
that spiritual life without which any institution is
only a barren mechanical collection of names and
forms, incapable of growth or reparation, which will
crumble and fall at the first violent shock. He em-
bodied and energised almost at the beginning those
elements in the kingly system on which its essential
life depended ; the elements, that is, of order and
justice. By the excellence of the monarch the sys-
tem received its most perfect manifestation. Louis,
just and a lover of peace above all men, exercised
those virtues to the full in his public conduct, and
left at once a model to his successors and a convinc-
ing example to the remembrance of his subjects of
the benefits conferred by the sway of a righteous
King. Under him the bright side of the monarchic
rule was brought out in glowing colours, imprinting
an indelible picture on the minds of the people,
while its darker aspect was kept back, its oppression
and corruption and arbitrariness. The merits of his
296 Saint Louis * [1270
government, contrasted with the disorder and ill
state of other nations, were enough to justify the
language of the chronicler, that “ the kingdom of
France in his time was like the sun in heaven in
comparison with the rest.”
The crusades of Louis, however much they added
to his reputation for holiness, have been generally
condemned on grounds of prudence and policy.
There was no longer any danger to Europe from the
Saracens, it is said, and the task of recovering and
holding Palestine should have been recognised as
desperate. In the vain endeavour he deserted his
kingdom and spent the blood and treasure of his
people. But, if the motive may be regarded, he was
induced by piety not ambition, as his contemporaries
all allowed, admiring a zeal which in themselves was
mostly smothered by worldly wisdom. If a single
and disinterested aim, apart from the prospect of
selfish advantage, can justify any war, his crusades
were justified. And even on considerations of pol-
icy alone, it is not for an age which is beginning to
chafe at Mohammedan dominion in western Asia
to judge too harshly the last attempt which was
made to overthrow it.
The people of France long lamented the loss of
the King who had governed them so well ; and the
ballads of both North and South attest the love and
sorrow of the whole nation. But perhaps the best
epitaph of Louis is found in the brief notice of an
annalist writing a few years after his death : “ There
was peace in his time; he loved God and Holy
Church ; and they say that he is with the Saints.”
INDEX
A
Abbeville, Gerard of, 281
Acre, 92, 93, 222
Aigues-Mortes, 156
Aimery, see Rochechouart
Albi, province of, 41
Albigensian heresy, 1 1
Alix, see Cyprus
Alphonso, see Poitiers and Cas-
tile
Amaury, see Montfort
Angouleme, Count of, 147
Anjou, 4, 6
— Charles of, 20, 140, 162, 176,
196, 219, 232, 240, 251
Aquinas, Thomas, 274, 281
Aquitaine, dukes of, 4
Aragon, 14
— Isabel of, 239
— King of, 108, 122, 238
Archambaud, see Bourbon
Architecture, 269
Arles, Archbishop of, 89
Artois, Robert of, 86, 102, 105,
138, 172, 176, 177, 178
Assassins, 97
Avesnes, John and Bouchard of,
141, 219, 231, 234
Avignon, siege of, 1226, 18
# B
Bagdad, Caliph of, 159
Baldwin, Emperor, 99, 135
Bar, Count of, 25, 47, 91, 138,
142, 220
Beatrix of Savoy, 65, 139
Beaujeu, Humbert of, 106, 177
Beaulieu, Godfrey of, 266
Beaumont, William, 198
Beauvais, Bishop of, 58, 75, 138
Belesme, siege of, 37
Berenger, Raymond, 139
Besangon, Archbishop of, 89
Beziers, Viscount of, 13, 15 1
Bigod, Roger, 116
Blanche, Queen, 8, 11, 21, 22,55,
78, 106, 132, 138, 150, 154, 197 ;
suppresses rebellion, 1226, 27,
37 ; her care of the young
king, 32 ; quarrel with the
University of Paris, 1229, 39 ;
checks revolt, 1 229, 44 ; as-
sists Theobald, 1229,46 ; treats
with Brittany, 1230, 49 atti-
tude toward the Church, 1233,
57 ; jealousy toward Queen
Margaret, 65 ; subdues Peter,
1234, 68 ; at time of Louis’s
majority, 1236, 82 ; her death,
1252, 204, 206, 21 2-2 14
Blaye-on-Garonne, ri8
Blois, county of, 5
Boileau, Stephen, 259
Bonaventure, Friar, 281
Boniface, see Canterbury
Bordeaux, Archbishop of, 89
Bouchard, see Avesnes and
Montmorency
297
298 index
Boulogne, Hurepel of, 23
— Philip of, 23, 27, 35, 44, 45,
47, 69
— Reginald of, 25
Bourbon, Archambaud of, 62,
74, 106, 162
Bourges, Archbishop of, 138
, — rendezvous at, 1226, 18
Brabant, Duke of, 138
Brie, 5
Brittany, 4
— John of, 138
—Peter of, 22, 23, 27, 28, 74, 9 1 ,
93, 117, 124, 138, 147, 172,180,
193, 253 ; leads a revolt, 1227,
36 ; revolts again, 1229, 44 ;
deposed, 1230, 50; intrigues
of, 1231, 61 ; revolts, 1234,
66 ; submission of, 6S
Bulgarian heresy, 99
Burgundy, 5
— Hugh of, 45, 74, 91, 92, 138,
147, 165
— Yolande of, 239
C
Canterbury, Archbishop of, 139
Capet, House of, 1, 56
Castelnau, Peter of, 13
Castile, Alphonso of, 240
— Ferdinand of, 204, 238
Cathedrals, 269
Celestin IV., Pope, 128
Chalons, Duke of, 242
Champagne, counts of, 5
— Theobald of, 18, 22, 25, 27, 35,
41, 45, 49> 61, 242
de la Chapelle, Geoffrey, 62
Charlemagne, 1, 3
Charles, see Anjou
Chartres, county of, 5
— William of, 266
Chastillon, Walter, 171
Chateau-Roux, Odo of, see
Odo
Chester, Earl of, 52
Chinon, 27, 28
Church and State, 56
Cisteaux, Abbot of, 89
Clement IV., Pope, 284 r
Clovis, -Ring, 109
Cluny, Abbot of, 89, 226
"Coinage, reform of.. the, .263
Colmein, Peter of, 43
Compi^gne, treaty of, 1230, 52
■'Conrad,.:. King of the Romans,
127, 153, 154
Conradin, 240
Cornwall, Richard of, 38, 93,
107, 1 1 5, 152, 236, 240
Goucy, Enguerrand of, 25, 36,
45, 106, 252
— Raoul of, 13S, 179
Crown of thorns, 101
.Crusade, the .Shepherds’, ' 204,.
205
Crusades, 8, 91, 284
Cyprus, Alix, Queen of, 23, 46,
61, 69
— King of, 161
D
Damascus, Sultan of, 168
Damietta, 165, 167, 170, 193
Dam pierre, William of, 141, 219,
232
Dauphiny, 5
Dominic, Saint, 13
Dreux, princes of, 23, 45, 138,
162
— Robert of, 69
Duelling, custom of, 249
Dunbar, Patrick of, 162
E
Edward of England, 287, 292
Egypt, Sultan of, 93, 132
Eleanor of Provence, 84
Enguerrand, see Coucy
Epernay burned, 1230, 49
Excommunication, abuse of, 261
F
Fakareddin, 178
Ferdinand, see Castile
Index
299
Ferrand, see Flanders
Fescamp, Abbot of, 89**
Fismes burned, 1230, 49
Flanders, Countess of, 25, 82
description of, 4
— Ferrand of, 10, 25, 26, 46, 82,
180
— Joan of, 141
— Margaret of, 141
Foix, Count of, 42, 43
Fontaines, Peter des, 250
Fontenay l’Abattu, siege of,
1242, 1 12
Frederick II., Emperor of Ger-
many, quarrels with the Pope,
1239, 84 ; heresy of, 87 ; re-
ceives letter from Henry III.,
1242, 122 ; relations with
France, 1243, 128; cursed and
deposed by the Pope, 1245,
136, 137 ; inclined to make
concessions, 1246, 142 ; sends
envoys to procure Louis’s re-
lease from captivity, 1250,
202 ; death of, 203, 240
Fulcodi, Cardinal, 239
G
Gascony, 14 ; spirit of its peo-
pie, 4
— Richard of, 27
Gaza, battle of, 1244, 133
Geoffrey, de la Chapelle, 62
— of Lusignan, in
— of Rancon, 119
— de Villete, 250
Gerard of Abbeville, 281
Godfrey, see Beauvais and Beau-
lieu
Gregory IX., Pope, 31 ; as a
peacemaker, 1229, 47 ; writes
to Louis, 1234, 72 ; provoked
by demands of the French
barons, 1235, 74 ; continues
the':;.; struggle with Emperor
Frederick, 1239, 85; death of,
1241,127
Guerin, Bishop, 21, 23
FI
Flaco of Norway, 152
Haie-Pamel, revolt of, 37
“ Hammer of Heretics,” 99
Henry II. of England, success of, 7
— III. of England, enters into
agreement with Peter of Brit-*
tany, 1226, 27 ; assists re-
bellion in France, 1227, 36 ;
receives further overtures
from rebels, 1227, 38 ; fails to
support his French allies,
1229, 44; invades France in
person, 1230, 49 ; marriage of,
1235, 83 ; conspires again
against France, 1 241, 107; in-
vades France again, 1242, 107-
no; retreats in haste, 1 242,
1 17 ; writes to Emperor Fred-
erick, 1242, 122 ; returns to
England, 1243, 124; un-
friendly attitude during
Louis’s captivity, 1 250, 203 ;
goes into Gascony, 1253, 219 ;
visits Paris, 1254, 232; second
visit to Paris, 1259, 237 ; dis-
pute with the English barons,
243-245
— of Thuringia, 142, 153
Heresy, Albigensian, ix
— Bulgarian, 99
Plolland, William of, elected
King of the Romans, 1247,
154 ; takes part in the quarrel
between Dampierre and
Avesnes, 1251, 219, 220; death
of, 1256, 231
Honorius III., 15, 16
Hospitallers, the, 162, 201
Hubert de Burgh, 38, 45, 51
Hugh, founder of the House of
Capet, r
— of Burgundy, see Burgundy
— of la Marche, see la Marche
— of Lusignan, 24
— the Preaching Friar, 227
Humbert, of Beaujeu, 106, 177
— the Constable, 1S0
Hurepel, see Boulogne
3oO Index
i
Innocent III., Pope, g
— IV., Pope, election of, 1 243,
128 ; seeks refuge from Fred-
erick, 1244, 12 9, 130 ; calls
a council at Lyons, 1245,
r 135-137 ; meets Louis at
Cluny, 1245, 138 ; extortion-
ate acts of, 145 ; league of the
French barons against, 1246,
147, 148 ; visited by Louis,
1248, 156 ; his dispute with
Frederick, 1250, 203
Inquisition, the, 44, 72, 73
Isabel, sister of Louis IX., 19,
28
— of Aragon, 239
— Countess, of La Marche, 126
— of England marries Frederick
II. of Germany, 1235, §4
Ismael, Saleh, 159
j
Jacobin friars, character of, 72
Jaffa, Count of, 197
Jews, 53, 99, 100, 278
Joan, of Flanders, 141
— of Toulouse, 41, 105
John, of Avesnes, see Avesnes
— of Brittany, see Brittany
— Duke, 78
— of England, 8
— King of Jerusalem, 25
— brother of Louis, 28
— son of Louis, 239
— of Valenciennes, 199
Joigny, Count of, 252
Joinvilie, 45, 105, 179, 197, 198,
209, 217, 221-224, 231, 250,
259, 266, 285
K
Khorasmians, the, 132
L
La Marche, Hugh of, 8, 17, 27-
29, 51 , 74 , 77 , 107 , 115, 119,
138 ; accused of ' treason,
1243,', 126; death of, 1249,
169
Languedoc, location of, 5, 13,
14; war in, 31, 33; resettle-
ment of the Church in, 43
Laon, Bishop of, 138
Lateran, 14
Leicester, Simon Montfort of,
1 14, 122
Li&ge, Bishop of, 83
Limbourg, Duke of, 83
London, treaty of, 113
Longs word, William, 116, 122,
171, 172, 178, 179
Lorraine, Duke of, 95
Lorris, treaty of, 1243, 123
Louis, the Idler, 1
— VI., warlike rule of, 3
— VII. keeps England at bay,
7
? — VIII. offered the English
crown, 1215, 10 i succeeds
to throne, 1223, 16 ; cam-
paign against Languedoc, 17 ;
captures Rochelle, 1224, 17 ;
death, 1 226, 19 ; his last in-
junctions, 24
— IX., birth of, 12x4, 19 ;
coronation of, 1226, 24 ; at-
tempt to kidnap, 1227, 30;
his education, 32, 33 ; as Duke
of Guyenne, 1230, 48 ; re-
pulses English, 1230, 50; at
Melim, 1230, 53 ; early man-
hood of, 1232-, 62 ; charac-
ter of, 63' ; . . marriage. ■ : : of,
X234, ; attitude toward
the clergy, 1235, 76 ; attains
majority, 1236,81; threatens
Emperor Frederick, 1242, 90 ;
assists crusaders, 1239, 9L and
the Tartars, 1241, 96 ; and the
assassins, 97; piety and zeal of,
98 ; attitude toward the Jews,
101 ; knights his brother,
1241, 106 ; marches against
English, 1242, in ; receives
submission of Hugh, 1242,
1 19 ; thoroughly established
Index 30 x
Louis «I:X . — Contin tied
on throne, 1243, 124 ; sick-
ness of, 1244, 13 1 ; meets
Pope at Cluny, 1245, 138 ;
as arbitrator, 1246, 141 ; again
meets Pope, 1246, 141 ; pre-
pares for crusade, 1246, 144 ;
remonstrates against Papal
exactions, 1245, 145 ; calls a
Parliament, 1247, 150 ; writes
to Emperor Frederick, 1247,
152 ; starts on crusade, 1248,
155 ; arrives at Cyprus, 1248,
16 1 ; sends embassy to the
Tartars, 1248, 164 ; lands in
Egypt, 1249, 165 ; attacks
the Mamelukes, 1 250, 179;
captured, 1250, 185 ; reaches
Acre, 1250, 196 ; conduct in
Palestine, 20S, 209 ; learns of
his mother’s death, 1253, 214;
embarks for France, 1254,
222 ; arrives in Paris, 1254,
227 ; foreign policy, 1254-
3:270, 230 ; compromise with
England, 235 ; as an arbitra-
tor, 242 ; in internal affairs,
1254-1270, 246 ; justice of,
254 ; instructions to his son,
263 ; contemporary biogra-
phies of, 266 ; charity of, 267;
domestic life of, 281 ; prepares
for his second crusade, 1270,
285 ; death of, 1270, 291
Lusignan, Geoffrey of, m
— Hugh of, 24
Lyons, Count of, 91
M
Macon, Count of, 91
Maine, province of, 4
Mamelukes, 187, 189, 199
Manfred of Naples, 240
Margaret, daughter of Archam-
baud, 62
— of Flanders, see Flanders
— Queen, 192, 215, 223, 224;
character of, 64 ; marriage of,
65
Marshal, Earl, 52
Matthew, of St. Denis, 287
— of Trie, 255
Maurice, Archbishop, 57
Meaux, treaty of, 1229, 41, 105
Michael Pakeologus, 243
Milo, Bishop, 58
Montauban, 120
Montfort, Simon, 14, 114, 122,
219, 245
— Philip of, 185
— Amaury of, 15-17, 91
Montl’hery, 30
Montmorency, Bouchard of, 74
Montpellier, councils of, 14
Morea, Prince of, 165
Muret, battle of, 1213, 14
' N
Naples, Manfred of, 240
Narbonne, Archbishop of, 41
Naser, 201
Navarre, Sancho of, 69
— Theobald of, 77, 7S, 80, 91-
93, 100, 239
Nesle, Simon of, 252, 287
Nismes, Bishop of, 89
Nodgemeddin Ayoub, Saleh,
159
Norman, House merged with
Anjou, 6
— invasion of England, 5
Normandy, conquered by Philip,
9
— description of, 4
— Duke of, 6
Norway, Haco of, 152
O
Odo, Papal Legate, 137, 141,
145, 156, 221
Old Man of the Mountain, 96,
200
Orleans, Bishop of, 138
Otho, Cardinal, 10, 42
Oxford, Parliament of, 243
302
Index
p
Palseologus, Michael, 243
Patrick, see Dunbar
Peter, see Brittany, Castelnau,
Colmien
— des Fontaines, 250
Pliilip, Augustus, 7, S ; death of,
1223, 16 ; effect of his" policy,
21
— Bishop of Valence, 139
— of Montfort, see Montfort
— second son of Louis IX., 239
Poitiers, Alphonso of, 20, 28,
105, 108, 175, 1S0, 193, 196,
214, 219
Pons, Reginald of, 51, no, 119,
122
Ponthieu, Simon of, 74, 83
Prester John, 163
Profanity, suppression of, 277
Provence, location of, 5
— Count of, 88
— Eleanor of, 84
Provostship of Paris, 259
R
Rancon, Geoffrey of, 119
Raoul, see Coucy
Raymond Berenger, see Be'ren-
ger
— of Toulouse, see Toulouse
Reginald, of Boulogne, see Bou-
logne
— of Pons, see Pons
Rheims, Archbishop of, 76, 138
Richard, see Cornwall and Gas-
cony
Robert, brother of Louis IX.,
20, 99
— of Artois, see Artois
— of Dreux,i^<? Dreux
— of Sorbonne, 274, 280
Rocheehouart, Aimqry of,. 51
Roche de Glui, 157
Roger, Bigod, see Bigod ’ *
— of Roche de Glui, 157 '
Romano, Cardinal-Legate, stf *•
3 L 32 , 34 , 40 , 4 L 44 , - -
Romans, traditions of the, 5
Rouen, iVrchbishop of, 32, 89
Royaumont, Abbey of, 33
S
St. Amour, William of, 281
— • Denis, Council of, 1235, 74
— Matthew of, 287
— Paul, Count of, 74, 13S, 147,
220' :
Saintes, battle of, 1242, 116
— Bishop of, 1 17
Saladin, empire of, 159
Saleh Ismael, 159
Salisbury, William of, 152
Sancerre, county of, 5
Sancho of Navarre, 69
Savoy, Beatrix of, 65, 139
Senlis, Bishop of, 23, 142
Sens, Archbishop of, 102, 138
Sezanne burned, 1230, 49
Shepherds’ Crusade, 204, 205
Simon, see Montfort, Nesle,
Ponthieu
Sinnebald, 128
Soissons, Count of, 180, 193
Sorbonne, Robert of, 274, 280
Stephen, see Boileau
Suessa, Thaddeus of, 136
T
Tartar Embassy, 1248, 162
Tartars, invasion of the, 1238*
94
Templars, the, 162, 164, ' 177,
193, 201, 210
Theobald, see Navarre and
Champagne
Thomas Aquinas, 274, sSi
^TMringia, Henry of, 142, 1 53
T*To|l^jse, castle of, 42
of, 5
— 41, 105
7-7 Ra^rao% of, first crusade
against, *^13, 13, 14 ; extoiri-
municat^ 1225, 17 ; crusade
-•against,, continued, 19, 31;
, makes andice, 1228* 34; sur-
Index
303
i."oul®use — Continued
renders, 1229, 41 ^ peace
terms granted to, 1229, 41 ;
reconciled to the Church, 42 ;
and the Inquisition, 72 ; attacks
Provence, 1239, 88 ; attacked
by La Marche, 1242, 120,
121
— settlement of, 55
Tours, Archbishop of, 75
Trebizond, Prince of, 218
Truce of 1227, the, 29
U
University of Paris, 39, 82, 280
Urban IV., Pope, 240
V
Valenciennes, John of, 199
Vaucouleurs, conference of,
1237, 85
Vendome, treaties of, 28, 30, 50
Vertus burned, 1230, 49
de Villete, Geoffrey, 250
W
William, of Holland, see Holland
— Longsword of Salisbury, see
Longsword
— of St. Amour, 281
Winchester, Bishop of, 94
Worcester, Bishop of, 152
Y
Yolande of Brittany, 27, 28
— of Burgundy, see Burgundy
York, Archbishop of, 29
Valence, Philip of, 139
Heroes of the Nations
EDITED BY
EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A.,
Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.
A SERIES of biographical studies of the lives and work
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whom have gathered the great traditions of the Nations
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With the life of each typical character will be presented
a picture of the National conditions surrounding him
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HEROES OF THE NATIONS.
A series, of biographical studies of the liv^p and work' of
certain representative historical characters, about whom have
gathered the great traditions of the Nations to which ’they
belonged, and who have been accepted, in many instances, as
types of the several National ideals.
The volumes will be sold separately as follows ; cloth extra,
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The following are now ready :
NELSON. By W. Clark Russell. JEANNE D’ARC. By Mrs. Oliphant.
GUSTAVOS ADOLPHUS. By C, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. By
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PERICLES. By Evelyn Abbott. ROBERT THE BRUCE. By Sir
THE ODOR IC THE GOTH. By Herbert Maxwell,
Thomas Hodgkin. HANNIBAL.' By W*. : O’Connor. Ifor-
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, By. H. R. ris.
Fox-Bourne. ULYSSES S. GRANT. By William
JULIUS CiESAR. By W. Warde Conant Church.
Fowler. ROBERT E. LEE. By Henry Alex*
WYCLIF. By Lewis Sergeant. ander White.
NAPOLEON. By W. O’Connor Mor- THE CID CAMPEADOR. By H.
ris. Butler Clarke.
HENRY OF NAVARRE. By P. F. SALADIN. By Stanley Lane-Poole.
Willert. BISMARCK. By J. W. Headlara.
CICERO. By J. L. Strachan- David- ALEXANDER THE GREAT *. b By
ton. Benjamin I. Wheeler.
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PRINCE HENRY (OF PORTUGAL) OLIVER CROMWELL. By Charles
THE NAVIGATOR. By C. R. Firth.
Beasley. RICHELIEU. By James B. Perkins.
JULIAN THE PHILOSOPHER. DANIEL O’CONNELL. By Robert
By Alice Gardner. Dunlop.
LOUIS XIV. By Arthur Hassall. SAINT LOUIS (Louis IX., of France).
CHARLES XII. By R. Nisbet Bain. By Frederick Perry.
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EDWARD I. ’ By Edward Jenks. --.V.';. Oman.
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